TAYLORSVILLE — A 10-year-old boy narrowly missed serious injury Tuesday after he was shot in the head with a high-powered BB rifle. The BB penetrated the boy's skull and stopped just before reaching his brain.
Wednesday, investigators were trying to determine whether the shooting was an accident or if the boy was an intended target.
Skyler Williams and his friends were playing hide-and-seek in a church parking lot near 1900 West and 5200 South about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Skyler was hiding between two 6-foot fences separating the church and some houses when the young boys got into a squirt-gun fight with some older boys in the adjacent yard.
The older boys had been target practicing with BB guns in their yard prior to the water fight.
After squirting water over the fence at each other, Skyler said he saw an 18-year-old boy point a BB rifle with a scope at him. Skyler's head was sticking up above the fence. He said he saw the gun pointed at him from eight to 10 feet away, but he thought it was another water gun.
Just moments later he felt something hit his forehead just above his right eye. He knew he had been shot.
"I didn't know I was bleeding," Skyler said.
But his friends saw blood on his forehead and told him to run home immediately. That's when Skyler said he felt the blood running down his face and he became scared.
Don Williams, Skyler's father, was just driving home from work when he saw his son running down the street.
"I could see blood everywhere. I knew something was wrong," he said.
At first Williams said his son was in shock and couldn't speak. Skyler was rushed by ambulance to Cottonwood Hospital. But his condition worsened, his father said.
It was then that doctors decided to fly Skyler by medical helicopter to Primary Children's Medical Center, where he underwent surgery to remove the BB.
"It's a miracle he's alive," Williams said. "If it were a little lower he would have lost an eye. We're very fortunate (the BB) stopped where it stopped. It's a blessing."
The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office was called to the church and found the 18-year-old with the rifle still in his hands, said Sgt. Rosie Rivera. The rifle, another BB pistol and a metal skillet being used for target practice were seized.
The teen reportedly just purchased the rifle three weeks ago.
Members of the group shooting the BBs gave conflicting stories about what happened, Rivera said. Half the group said the 18-year-old knew he hit Skyler and the other half said he was aiming for a target, missed and was unaware he hit the boy, she said.
The teen said he was aiming for a tree branch above Skyler, according to a sheriff's office report.
But Skyler doesn't believe that.
"He knew he shot me. He was close. I don't know if it was an accident," he said.
The teen had not been arrested as of Wednesday. But Rivera said possible charges of recklessness, aggravated assault and firing a weapon within county limits were all being considered.
According to the law, a BB gun is the same as a firearm, Rivera said.
"They're just as dangerous as any other firearm," she said. "This could have been tragic."
Skyler was released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon with five stitches in his forehead.
"My head kind of hurts because of the surgery," he said. "I've had a headache the whole day."
Skyler got to keep the BB as a souvenir but he told reporters, "I don't want to touch a gun again."
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com