Investigation continues into infant girl shooting case

By Michael Jamison - 11/26/2008

KALISPELL — A 1-year-old girl remains hospitalized while authorities continue investigation into how the infant was shot in the face late Tuesday afternoon.

"We're still asking a lot of questions, and trying to link any physical evidence back to the witness statements," said Flathead County Undersheriff Pete Wingert.

Wingert's office received a call shortly after 4 p.m. Tuesday, reporting that the baby had been shot with a .22-caliber pistol. The girl was flown, in stable condition, from Kalispell Regional Medical Center to a Spokane hospital Tuesday evening, authorities said.

Wingert said he spoke with the mother, who told him that she and her husband were piling brush at a property on Boon Road, south of Kalispell. The weather was blustery, the mother told investigators, so they left the 1-year-old and a 2-year-old girl in the nearby truck while they worked.

Neither child was buckled in, Wingert said.

The mother also told investigators that the gun was regularly stored beneath the passenger's seat, but was kept unloaded. Authorities question how the children could have loaded and discharged the gun.

"That's a lot of fine motor skills for kids that age," Wingert said.

When the mother heard the gunshot, he said, she and her husband rushed to the truck, discovering the infant with a bullet wound that entered near the chin and exited at the left jawbone.

Deputies served search warrants on both the property and on the truck, hoping to find evidence to corroborate the mother's statements.

The parents have been interviewed, he said, and investigators plan to question the 2-year-old, as well "but we'll see how that goes. Children that young don't always make the best witnesses." Montana has no laws against keeping loaded guns in cars, Wingert said, but charges still could be filed. Assuming no criminal intent, he said, "certainly, a negligent endangerment charge would be an option." Neither parent has had any prior run-ins with the law, Wingert said.