SOLON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A teenager who told investigators that he mistook his brother for a deer when he shot him has been charged with a gun crime, authorities in western Michigan said Thursday.
The 17-year-old faces a charge of careless discharge of a firearm causing injury, the Kent County sheriff’s office said. The case will be handled in juvenile court.
A 12-year-old boy was shot Monday in Solon Township, north of Grand Rapids, when he went out to summon his older brother for dinner, the sheriff’s office said.
The teen thought he was shooting at a deer, deputies said.
“It was something that was done in a situation where a reasonable person wouldn’t have fired off a round,” prosecutor Chris Becker said.
The younger boy was in stable condition at a hospital.
