BATTLE CREEK (WKZO) — A 16-year-old from Battle Creek has been hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, and investigators are sorting through a variety of stories about how it happened.
The victim initially told police that an adult black male in a ski mask had entered the home in the first block of Battle Creek Avenue where a number of teens were gathered and shot him in the abdomen.
Some of the other teens said the victim accidentally shot himself, and others said one of the other boys accidentally shot him.
One of them revealed that the gun, which had had its serial number obliterated, had been thrown into a nearby field.
It was recovered and will be the subject of a separate investigation will try to determine its source.
Just because it was accidental, doesn’t mean that there will be no charges. Any number of charges might still be pursued if willful neglect, theft, illegal possession or just lying to Police Officers can be proven.
The victim was reported in stable condition after undergoing emergency surgery at Bronson Methodist in Kalamazoo.
