A young girl was critically injured in a shooting Thursday afternoon in Birmingham.

Just before 2 p.m., officers with the Community Safety Partnership Unit – which is assigned to Birmingham’s public housing communities, were in Smithfield when they were approached by a community member who told them there was an infant shot.

Officers went to the 800 block of First Street North to an apartment and found a 4-year-old girl suffering from a gunshot wound, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald.

She was taken to Children’s of Alabama, where police said she is “fighting for her life.”

“It’s a very bad injury,’’ Fitzgerald said.

The preliminary investigation indicates that the girl was in the apartment unit when at least one shot was fired, possibly more.

“The questions we have right now are was this accidental or was this criminal?’’ Fitzgerald said.

He said police are leaning toward the shooting being accidental, but Fitzgerald said the investigation is in its early stages.

“We don’t believe the apartment was shot into,’’ he said. “It’s leaning more toward an accident shooting but we can’t rule that officially.”

He could not say whether investigators believe the girl got hold of a gun and shot herself, or whether someone else in the apartment discharged the gun. “We just don’t know,’’ right now he said.

“Our officers are shaken up by this incident whether it be accidental or not,’’ he said. “It’s still a tragic situation going on in our city right now.”

There have been a number of accidental shootings involving children in the Birmingham area recently.

Last week, a 3-year-old Birmingham boy died after finding a gun and fatally shooting himself in his southwest Birmingham apartment.

On July 4, a juvenile accidentally shot his or herself in the finger, also in Birmingham. And on Wednesday, 4-year-old girl reportedly shot herself in the leg inside a Fultondale apartment.

“We as gun owners, we owe it to everyone around us to practice safe tactics,’’ Fitzgerald said. “We don’t want to victim blame or point the finger at anyone, but it’s just a reminder that these are small children, and they are curious.”

“We have seen numerous situations that have taken place throughout our city,’’ he said.

Fitzgerald said free gun safety locks are available through the Birmingham Police Department precincts.

“We have a small child whose life will be forever changed,’’ he said. “We keep revisiting these scenes and it breaks your heart.’’