September 28, 2007, Ellicott City, MD. A 12-year old girl waiting in the car for her father and brother to return from a walk around Centennial Lake accidentally shot herself at about 5:45 pm. The handgun was in the car because her father is an FBI agent. The gun was under the seat in a bag with the father's cell phone; when the phone rang, the girl fumbled around under the seat to get the phone, and accidentally bumped the weapon. The gun fired a bullet into her leg.

The girl opened the door and tumbled out, screaming, "Help me! Somebody help me!" An emergency room nurse happened to be going past, heard the girl's screams and ran over to help her while another passerby called 911. The man who called the police said, "By the time I looked up from dialing the phone, the RN already had a tourniquet on the girl's leg."

Eight police cars, two police motorcycles, three Emergency Medical Service SUVs, an ambulance, and a firetruck responded to the scene while park patrons whose cars were hemmed in by the police and fire department vehicles waited and talked about the incident. The girl was put into the ambulance and emergency medical technicians attended to her while the motorcycles circled the lake to find the girl's family. When her father arrived, he rushed to her side.

Although the girl was said to be in good condition, it was decided to take her to Children's Hospital in Washington, DC, for treatment. A helicopter from the U.S. Park Police landed on a grassy overflow parking area, and the ambulance drove over to it. The father accompanied his daughter in the helicopter. The girl's younger brother waited with police for his mother to come and pick him up.

Although the father, as an FBI agent, is apparently permitted to carry a loaded gun, there was no explanation of why it was left under the seat of the car with the safety catch off, ready to fire.