Boy, 5, in hospital after tragic shooting accident

A FIVE-YEAR-OLD boy was shot in the head by an 11-year old boy in a tragic gun accident on the Granite Belt.

The injured child was transferred to Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane on Tuesday afternoon.

A spokeswoman from the hospital said the boy was in a critical but stable condition after being shot by what was reported to be a rifle.

The incident happened on a property in the Stanthorpe area, just after 4pm on Tuesday.

The two boys are related, and are believed to be cousins.

An 11-year-old boy from a neighbouring property, who cannot be identified, said he was outside about 4pm when heard two shots fired in quick succession.

“I was playing on the veranda and me and another little girl heard them go off and she got pretty scared,” the boy said.

“The shots went off about two seconds apart.

“They sometimes let off canons next door to scare the rabbits but that didn’t sound like a canon to me.

“They were low-pitched shots.

“I went down to have a look through the trees but I couldn’t see anything.”

Another neighbour said she thought the property belonged to the grandfather of the five-year-old boy who was shot.

A police spokesman said it was a tragic accident rather than a deliberate act and the injured boy was very lucky to be in a stable condition.

Police were unable to release information about the type of gun and how the child came to be in possession of the weapon.

A police spokesman said this tragedy was a reminder to gun owners to comply with their obligations under the Weapons Act to ensure that firearms were kept in a locked gun safe, as required by law.

A police child protection unit has been sent to investigate and police investigations continue.

I was playing on the veranda and me and another little girl heard them go off... — Neighbour