BB Wound Could Be Fatal to Local Teen

This is a very sad and unusual local story:

LAGUNA HILLS – A 15-year-old boy is in critical condition today after he was found Sunday night, unconscious in his back yard with a BB gun wound to his temple, authorities said.

The boy is in critical condition in Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, where he is being treated for his injury.

Investigators with the Orange County Sheriff's Department believe the shooting was accidental, but are investigating the case to shed light onto how the teenager was injured, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the department.

The boy had been seen at 5 p.m. in the back yard of his home at the 25900 block of Sheriff Road with a Daisy BB gun, shooting targets, Amormino said.

Hours later, his mother and grandmother called out to him, but he didn't answer. The two women began to look for the boy around the home but couldn't find him, Amormino said.

The mother and grandmother then went to look for him at a friend's home nearby, but he was not there, either. The grandmother then found the BB gun in the back yard and brought it inside the house.

At 11:35 p.m., the boy's mother went to the back yard and found the boy face down on the ground near some bushes. He had a wound in the head.

I have to admit that when I first saw the headline I immediately thought of A Christmas Story and "You'll shoot your eye out!". However, it's easy to forget that the pellets exit the barrel at a pretty high speed and can cause some serious damage at close range.

I hope he recovers.

UPDATE 3/4 - the boy has been declared brain dead. That's such a shame.