Kids Shot By Hunters' Stray Bullets at Texas School
Two children were shot by hunters’ bullets in an Edinburgh, Texas middle school.
The incident, which occurred on Monday, involved two students age 13 and 14 and three hunters who have not yet been identified. The time was around 4:45 p.m. and the teenagers were outside trying out for the basketball team.
According to The Monitor, the 14-year-old was hit in the torso and rushed to the emergency room in critical condition.
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He was playing basketball when he was hit by a bullet. He had to have the bullet removed from an organ.
The 13-year-old was hit in the leg. He was sitting on a curb when the bullet hit him. He is also now in stable condition.
The coach and players heard shots fired, which they thought came from the west, but they could not see the shooter, said Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño.
A Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter quickly responded and found a man hunting north of the campus. He had a .223-caliber rifle. Authorities then tracked down two other men carrying .30-caliber rifles on land bordering the campus’ north and west, which is leased to deer hunters.
“This is a major crime,” Treviño told reporters outside the school.
The school was put on lockdown after the shooting occurred.
Investigators have not yet determined if the shots came from the hunters. They were waiting for surgeons to remove the bullets from the boys Monday evening so they could identify the caliber and begin ballistics tests.
The sheriff said criminal charges will be filed only if investigators can prove that any of the hunters fired intentionally at the school, or if the bullets were shot with negligence.
Investigators have not released the names of the young victims or the hunters taken into custody.
