Girl, 9, shot in head with arrow from crossbow

Published 9:28 pm Friday, December 29, 2017

GULFPORT (AP) — Authorities say a 9-year-old girl was shot in the head with an arrow from a crossbow in Mississippi.

Harrison County Sheriff Troy Peterson said in a news release that Ashley Reynolds Patton sustained a blunt injury to the back of her head Wednesday evening, leaving her in critical condition.

Peterson said emergency responders found the girl “incoherent, in and out of consciousness.” She was stabilized at a Gulfport hospital and then taken to the University of South Alabama Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Mobile.

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News outlets report investigators learned a 16-year-old family member had shot the crossbow. The teen was released to a guardian and a case will be presented to a grand jury.