A 2-year-old at a daycare in Utah suddenly started bleeding. Doctors then found a bullet in the child’s head.
Authorities in Utah are investigating how a 2-year-old child at a daycare was struck in the head by an apparent stray bullet Monday.
The incident took place at a daycare in Spanish Fork, about 50 miles south of Salt Lake City.
Detectives learned that children were playing in a vinyl fenced area which was manned by two adults. That’s when a child appeared to stumble and was seen bleeding from the face, police said.
“The daycare notified the parents of the 2-year-old child who responded and took their child to the hospital for treatment. It was only at the hospital that the doctors discovered through scans that the child had a small-caliber bullet lodged in his head, say the police.
The child, who was transferred to the primary children’s hospital, was stable, police said.
The incident, police said, appeared to be a “tragic accident.”
“Open fields are just west of the daycare and it is believed the round may have come from that area,” police said.
Police could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. NBC News affiliate KSL of Salt Lake City reported that the incident occurred at Leap Ahead Daycare and the injured child is a boy.
Lane Mugleston, who owns the daycare, told the news outlet he was shocked by the apparently errant shooting: “We’re absolutely stunned. We’re stunned that this would happen in Spanish Fork.”
The daycare told NBC News in a statement Wednesday that it is “absolutely devastated” for the boy who was injured and his family.
“The safety of the children and staff in our care has always been our number one priority. We are praying for him and his family and we hope for a full recovery. We are also praying for the shooter and his family. I am sure he had absolutely no idea, that his bullet would travel as far as it did.”
KSL also reported that detectives said Wednesday they had identified a man who shot birds with a .22-caliber air rifle in the open fields west of the daycare. That man is cooperating, police said, as their investigation continues, and the case will be forwarded to the Spanish Fork City Prosecutor’s Office for review of possible charges.
The man who shot the birds will not be named unless charges are filed, the news outlet reported.
Doctors treating the boy have decided to leave the bullet in the boy’s head for fear of causing further damage if the boy undergoes surgery to remove it, KSL reported.
The boy is expected to make a full recovery, Mugleston told the news outlet.
