6-year-old girl injured by hunter’s shotgun pellets at rural Douglas County hunting preserve

A six-year-old girl on Sunday was injured in a shooting incident at a rural Douglas County hunting preserve.

George Diepenbrock, a spokesman for the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, said deputies responded to a report of a hunter injured in a shooting at Eckman Hunting Preserve, 988 East 1800 Road, around 8:30 a.m.

Through investigation, the deputies determined the girl and her father were separated from their hunting party, and she was struck with birdshot BBs from a shotgun when another member of the party fired at a bird. The deputies also determined the shooting was accidental.

The girl was taken to Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka with non-life-threatening injuries.


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