Bird hunter shoots self in face with shotgun
MOSES LAKE, Wash. (AP) - Grant County Undersheriff John Turley says a 43-year-old Moses Lake pheasant hunter accidentally shot himself in the face with a shotgun.
Mitchell King was reported in serious condition Thursday in intensive care at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.
Turley says King and two friends were hunting Dec. 4 when one friend heard a shot, then saw King falling backward with his semiautomatic 12-gauge shotgun between his legs.
The Tri-City Herald says investigators think the gun likely fired when King put it between his legs as he was wringing the neck of a pheasant he just shot or was congratulating his hunting dog, which might have accidentally made contact with the trigger.
The undersheriff says the blast hit King on the left side of his body, beginning at his hunting vest, and traveled along the left side of his face.
The sheriff's office first released information on the case Thursday.
Mitchell King was reported in serious condition Thursday in intensive care at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.
Turley says King and two friends were hunting Dec. 4 when one friend heard a shot, then saw King falling backward with his semiautomatic 12-gauge shotgun between his legs.
The Tri-City Herald says investigators think the gun likely fired when King put it between his legs as he was wringing the neck of a pheasant he just shot or was congratulating his hunting dog, which might have accidentally made contact with the trigger.
The undersheriff says the blast hit King on the left side of his body, beginning at his hunting vest, and traveled along the left side of his face.
The sheriff's office first released information on the case Thursday.