Imperial Beach

A boy who just celebrated his eighth birthday was critically injured Tuesday, apparently in an accidental shooting, the Sheriff’s Department reported.

Richard Edward Krecklow II was listed in “very critical” condition at Children’s Hospital late Tuesday night, according to a hospital spokesman.

Krecklow, who turned 8 on Sunday, was found by a neighbor about 2:30 p.m. in an alley near 11th Street and Cypress Avenue with an apparent gunshot wound to his head, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said.

Police believe that the apparent shooting may have occurred in the bedroom of a house near Krecklow’s home in the 500 block of 10th Street. Sheriff’s homicide detectives removed three guns from the residence, and questioned a 10-year-old girl who was with the boy at the time of the shooting, the Sheriff’s Department spokesman said.

As of late Tuesday night, it was unclear whether Krecklow, who had been playing with friends before the accident, was shot by someone or whether the wound to his right forehead was self-inflicted, the spokesman added.

Krecklow was taken by Life Flight helicopter to Children’s Hospital, where he remained on a life-support system in the intensive care unit Tuesday night.