North Carolina authorities are continuing their investigation of a reported shooting this week. A teen got shot in the neck while he was warming up for his Rocky Mount High School baseball practice.
According to police, the 15 year old was hit with a .22 calibre from a nearby wooded area.
A spokeswoman for the Nash-Rocky Mount Schools said the boy was not deliberately targeted, and police are currently examining whether a hunting party was in nearby woods at the time of the shooting.
The teen, who did not want to be named, told his story to a local North Carolina news outlet: "All of a sudden I got hit, my neck wobbled, and then my eyes went black, and I couldn't breathe for about 10 seconds. I was numb. I couldn't feel anything. It was unreal.”
His mother admitted that she immediately went into panic mode when her child called: "He called me on the phone and said, 'Mom, I think I've been shot’. I was in panic mode. I have to get to my child, that's all I could think about."
At first the boy was taken to UNC Nash Hospital, where a local doctor examined him and came to the conclusion that the bullet had only grazed his neck. The family went home and ate dinner, but then the teen started feeling sick soon afterwards again.
The family then went back to the hospital, where doctors now took X-rays and admitted their mistake when they saw the bullet was in his neck. The teen was then flown to Vidant Medical Centre in Greenville.
The teen’s mother explained: "The bullet missed everything important. I'm in shock. If it had been an inch to the right, he wouldn't be standing here."
Rocky Mount High Principal, Mr Daniel Colvin, wanted all the other parents to be aware that this was likely an accident: "It is important to note that this was not, and I repeat, this was not an incident of school shooting, and neither was our student targeted."
Source:
That hospital is getting sued soon.