By Tony Kukulich
A 12-year-old shooting victim who told police he had been shot by masked subjects later admitted that he had accidentally shot himself.
The boy was treated and released from Beaufort Memorial Hospital.
Deputies from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s office responded to a report of a juvenile gunshot victim at the Midtown apartment in Port Royal around 2:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 19. Upon their arrival, they were advised by officers from the Port Royal Police Department that the shooting had taken place about an hour earlier at Shell Point Park.
Witnesses at the park contradicted the boy’s story about being assaulted. The boy ultimately admitted that he had taken a handgun from an aunt without her knowledge and accidentally shot himself in the leg.
The weapon was found by deputies in the park where it had been hidden.
No charges have been filed, and the incident remains under investigation.
Tony Kukulich is a recent transplant to the Lowcountry. A native of Wilmington, Del., he comes to The Island News from the San Francisco Bay Area where he spent seven years as a reporter and photographer for several publications. He can be reached at tony.theislandnews@gmail.com.
