Man Shoots 8-Year-Old Girl Because He Thought She Was A Skunk

Just to get this out there, the 8-year-old girl who was shot is okay. She was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, but is still in critical condition.

But she has to be thanking her lucky stars that "Cousin Louie" (Or whatever the name and relation of the shooter was to her) is a terrible shot. The Pennsylvania man saw the girl on a hill, thought she was a skunk and opened fire.

According to the Times Online, the poor girl was attending a Halloween party hosted by one of her relatives and had gone out back. (She was wearing a black Halloween costume with a white feather on its hat.)

Someone told the mom of the house that there was a skunk nearby, so she grabbed a flashlight, told her son to get a gun and the pair went out for a little skunk-hunting.

The mom shined her light on a nearby hill where they thought they saw a skunk and her son opened fire with a shotgun, hitting the girl in the shoulder.

Police aren't sure if the relative will be charged, but said there will be charges if they are warranted.

I'm not sure if it's legal to shoot a skunk. But even if it is, wouldn't you think shooting at something from the backyard of a Halloween party is a bad idea without maybe, I don't know, looking at what you're shooting at?!

Thankfully the little girl is okay, but she'd better be expecting an extra-special Christmas gift from these relatives.

It's not clear what the relation of the shooter or his mom were to the injured girl, but from this point out she'll have a fair excuse to introduce her family as "Mom", "Dad", "Brother", "Sister", "Grandpa", "Auntie", and the "The ones that shot me."

Best wishes to the girl on a speedy and complete recovery. I truly hope this was just a freak accident and everybody comes out of this okay (mentally and physically).

[Times Online]

Picture by cliff1066™, Flickr.