SYDNEY, Australia (19 Nov 2004) -- POLICE are investigating the accidental wounding of a boy who was shot in the head with a speargun yesterday afternoon. A police spokesman said the 12-year-old, from Malabar, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, was shot by a companion about 4.10pm. "An 11-year-old boy picked up a speargun while helping a group of people load various items into a vehicle," the police spokesman said. "The spear discharged, and a 12-year-old boy among the group was struck in the head." An ambulance spokesman said the three-pronged spear was embedded in the boy's skull just above the ear. A friend of the wounded boy's family said last night: "It was just a bad accident." The victim was given pain relief by paramedics and taken to the Sydney Children's Hospital, at Randwick, for treatment. He was conscious and in a stable condition last night, the ambulance spokesman said. The barbed spear appeared not to have not penetrated the boy's brain. Ambulance officers had to cut off the protruding part of the spear before they could transport the boy to hospital. | | Last night, this part of the spear remained at the site of the accident - in the car park of a sewerage plant near Malabar beach. Police are speaking to two boys and two men who are believed to have witnessed the incident. Police also accompanied the boy's family to the Sydney Children's Hospital. Family members were still at the hospital late last night. Forensics experts were last night examining the accident scene, which had been cordoned off by police. They were investigating a number of items of scuba diving equipment, including flippers, snorkels and a wetsuit. A number of spears had been left lying in the gutter beside the road. SOURCE - Courier-Mail |
