Gun fires while man cleans it, 11-year-old boy injured
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on November 15, 2017 8:49 PM
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Wayne County EMS, sheriff's deputies and the Pikeville Police Department respond to a report of a person shot in Pikeville Wednesday.
PIKEVILLE -- An 11-year-old boy is stable and is expected to make a full recovery after being injured when his father's gun accidentally went off while the father was cleaning it Wednesday.
A press release said the boy's father was cleaning a rifle at their home at 143 Canary Lane when the gun discharged.
The bullet deflected off of a metal gun safe, and some of the metal fragments struck the 11-year-old boy.
Maj. Richard Lewis said the Wayne County Sheriff's Office is unsure if the metal fragments came from the bullet or the gun safe.
The boy was hit in the lower back by the fragments.
The Sheriff's Office received a report about the incident at about 2:11 p.m., and met the victim at the Pikeville Police Department at 100 W. School St.
Wayne County EMS took the boy from there to Wayne UNC Health Care.
Wayne County sheriff's detectives went to 143 Canary Lane to process the scene and also went to the hospital to interview the victim and his family.
No charges have been filed at this time and the case remains under investigation.
"There's no intent. He had no intent to shoot his son," Lewis said. "We are just making sure we fully investigate it before we close it out."