Tot Shot With Pellet in Head Hospitalized
A 14-month-old Oxnard tot was shot in the forehead Thursday by her 12-year-old uncle, who was shooting at birds with a pellet gun at the time, police said.
The unidentified girl, who had a pellet lodged in her skull, underwent surgery Thursday afternoon at St. John’s Regional Medical Center. She was later transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara.
“At this point, it looks like a tragic accident to me, but we have to look at it from all angles,” said Sgt. Lee Wilcox of the Oxnard Police Department.
The injury occurred about 9:45 a.m. in the 1400 block of Beverly Drive as the boy shot at birds from the back door of a house.
“He was in the process of bringing up the weapon and . . . his finger was on the trigger and it accidentally goes off,” Wilcox said, adding that the pellet struck the child at “pretty close range.”
Adults in the house called 911, he said.
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