State police: 5-year-old Ford City boy shot in neck
FORD CITY – State police were trying to determine how and why a 5-year-old boy was shot in the neck at a Western Pennsylvania home Wednesday.
Kittanning-based Sgt. William Myers said at a news conference the boy was wounded just before 11:30 a.m. at his home in Ford City. That’s about 40 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
Police believe there was at least one adult in the home at the time, but weren’t identifying that person. The boy’s name is not being released while the investigation continued.
Police were working to obtain a search warrant so they could seize any and all weapons in the home as part of the investigation, Myers said. The boy was wounded with a handgun, but Myers didn’t say what type or caliber, who owned the weapon, who fired it, or how that occurred.
The boy was wounded near his left clavicle, or collarbone, Myers said, and was in surgery at a Pittsburgh hospital. But Myers said he didn’t know the “severity or prognosis” of the wound.
Ford City police initially told reporters at the scene the shooting appeared to be accidental. But Ford City Sgt. John Atherton, the officer-in-charge of the borough department, declined to comment at the news conference and referred all questions to Myers.
Myers and Armstrong County District Attorney Scott Andreassi said it was too early to determine whether any criminal charges might be filed.
“We’re trying to determine the family dynamics and who might have been home at the time of the incident,” Myers said.