SPANISH FORK, Utah — A 2-year-old child was hospitalized after being hit by a stray bullet while at a Spanish Fork daycare Monday afternoon.
Officials report they identified an adult male who was shooting at birds with a .22 caliber air rifle in the area West of the daycare in connection to the incident.
The man is cooperating with investigators and the case will eventually be forwarded to prosecutors to review for any charges.
The identity of the man was not disclosed by officials and he will not be named unless formal charges are filed, police report.
Police say the boy suffered a bullet wound to the head after the incident, which occurred while they were playing inside a fenced area at the 2000 North 300 West location.
According to police, the child appeared to stumble after being struck and was bleeding from the face. The parents were notified and took their son to the hospital for treatment. Doctors were originally unable to locate the wound until a scan showed the boy had a small caliber bullet lodged in his head.
"We've never had this. It seems totally shocking and random that we had no idea this would ever even occur," said Lane Mugleston, owner of Leap Ahead Day Care.
Following original care at the first hospital, the boy was transferred to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City where he is improving and in stable condition.
He's stable, vitals are good, he's responsive. He'll talk to you here and there, but he's still in a lot of pain," explained family friend Janey Reyes.
Although police say the wound was "somewhat superficial," doctors have yet to remove the bullet from the child as they don't want to cause further damage.
While the incident occurred in the afternoon, police say they weren't notified until hours later.
The police gave us full assurance that they don't think that this is going to reoccur," said Mugleston, "they think it was completely random and totally astray and just an accident, and they told us that we could totally let the kids out and play, but even we decided, hey, today, let's keep them all inside."
There were no shootings reported in the area and no one at the school heard gunshots being fired. Police believe someone was out shooting in the nearby fields and probably has no idea what happened.
"It's a miracle and our hearts go out to this little boy and their family and we want to make sure that he gets the care that he needs and recovers from this incident," said Lt. Clay Slaymaker with the Spanish Fork Police Department.
