Thread: jesus wept

Copied this off the ninemsn news site here in oz. Hope the little tacker is ok. Father must be devastated, and so he should be.

9:06am October 7, 2014

New Zealand dad accidentally shoots toddler son in the back of the head

A New Zealand father has accidentally shot his 17-month-old son in the back of the head with an air rifle as he was taking it out of a bedroom wardrobe.

The toddler is in a stable condition in Auckland's Starship Children's Hospital, The Timaru Herald reports.

Police are investigating the incident, which happened on Friday night at Temuka, two hours south of Christchurch.

It is not illegal to own an air rifle without a licence, the newspaper reports.

"As an air rifle was taken out of a wardrobe, it was discharged, hitting a child in the back of the head," Sergeant Geoff McCrostie said.

Canterbury Rural Area Commander Inspector Dave Gaskin said although air rifles could be bought without a firearms licence, "they are not toys and can cause serious harm when used incorrectly"