A 2-year-old Utah boy was in stable condition Tuesday after catching a stray bullet to the head while playing outside at his day care center, according to police.
At the time, several children were playing in the fenced-in area of the Leap Ahead Childcare Center in Spanish Fork, about 10 miles south of Provo.
“While playing in the vinyl fenced area that was staffed with two adults, a child appeared to stumble and was seen bleeding from the face,” police said in a statement. “The daycare notified the parents of the 2-year-old child who responded and took their child to the hospital for treatment. It was not until at the hospital that doctors discovered through scans that the child had a small caliber bullet lodged in his head.”
The boy is at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, about 50 miles north, authorities said.
A bullet hole found in the vinyl fence surrounding the play area made it likely the bullet came from an air or pellet gun fired from a farming field across the street from the center, Lt. Clay Slaymaker told The Associated Press.
“Detectives are continuing to investigate where the bullet may have been shot from and why. It appears this was a tragic accident,” police said. “Open fields are directly west of the daycare and it is believed the round may have come from that area.”
“We’re absolutely dumbfounded,” daycare owner Lane Mugleston told AP. “And we pray for the family and hope that the doctors are able to do everything needed, but we’re absolutely surprised.”
Mugleston said no one had heard the shots and that no one suspected the child had been hit until brain scans revealed the small-caliber bullet lodged in the boy’s head later that evening, which is when police were called.