Report: Boy Shot by 5-Year-Old Sister

David Young, 8, who was accidentally shot in the head Monday at the Black Hawk Park firing range, may have been shot by his 5-year-old sister.

A source close to the investigation told KWWL that the girl had picked up a gun and shot the boy.

Black Hawk County sheriff's officials said Young apparently wandered in front of the firing line where another family member was shooting with a .22 caliber rifle at around 5:25 p.m. Monday.

A source told KWWL the gun was in the hands of David Young's younger sister.

Young was transferred to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Brain Trauma Unit on Monday. The hospital could not release any updates on his condition Tuesday afternoon, as is typical under federal patient privacy laws.

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported he was conscious and alert after the accident:

Officials first thought it was a minor injury, almost a graze, with an entrance and exit wound, said Capt. Rick Abben with the sheriff’s office.

Later, at Covenant Medical Center, doctors discovered a lump on another part of his head and suspected the bullet fragmented, and part of the projectile went deeper than first thought, Abben said.

Vern Fish, executive director of the Black Hawk County Conservation Board, said this was the first such accident he can remember in 30 years with the conservation service.