8-year-old boy accidentally shot when barrel with guns inside set on fire
An 8-year-old Florida boy was accidentally shot when a burn barrel with guns inside was set on fire, authorities said.
The boy was cleaning up a backyard with his grandmother and other children at the time of the Monday incident, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said.
A burn barrel was filled with yard waste and then set on fire, authorities said. But two guns were under the debris in the burn barrel, and a shot went off while the boy was standing next to the barrel, according to the sheriff's office.
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The boy's family heard two more shots as they rushed him to the hospital, authorities said.
The 8-year-old suffered a through-and-through gunshot to his lower leg and was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.
The incident "appears to be accidental and negligent," the sheriff's office said.