Pennsylvania man accidentally shoots costumed girl mistaken for skunk

Published November 20, 2014

Police say a costumed 9-year-old girl was accidentally shot outside a western Pennsylvania home during a Halloween party by a relative who thought she was a skunk.

New Sewickley Township police say she was over a hillside and wearing a black costume and a black hat with a white tassel at the time of the 8:30 p.m. Saturday shooting.

Chief Ronald Leindecker told the Beaver County Times that a male relative at the home mistook her for a skunk and fired a shotgun, hitting her in the shoulder.

Leindecker said the girl was alert and talking when she was flown to UPMC Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, where her condition was unavailable.

Leindecker said the man hadn't been drinking and he doesn't know whether any charges will be filed.

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