The incident occurred on April 7 when the boy and a friend found the pistol in a wooded area near Tickleford Drive in Weston, Southampton. The children mistook the firearm for a BB gun and brought it home before it was accidentally discharged once. The boy who was not injured fired the gun, resulting in the other boy being shot in the head. He escaped with only a graze and no serious injuries, and was treated for the wound following the discharge.
Police were alerted to the incident just before 5:30 PM on April 7. The children led officers to the area where the gun was found. Investigators rushed to the wooded area in Southampton after the incident. Police have been thoroughly searching the area for two days since the incident, with parts of Westwood Nature Reserve remaining cordoned off for days and officers still at the scene.
Authorities are currently carrying out house-to-house inquiries in the area. Ongoing inquiries focus on determining who owns the pistol and how it ended up in the woods, as well as the specific type of pistol found. The exact medical condition and prognosis of the injured boy have not been disclosed, and it remains unclear if there are any suspects or leads regarding the origin of the gun.