Runaway Shoots Himself In Foot 15-Year-Old Will Be Charged After His Hospital Release

A 15-year-old Sandpoint runaway shot himself in the foot Wednesday with a shotgun that is part of a cache of guns stolen recently from his parents house.

The youth will be arrested when he is released from the hospital, police said.

The teenager, whose name was not released, underwent surgery at Kootenai Medical Center to repair the wound to his right foot, according to a Coeur d’Alene police report. He remained hospitalized Thursday, said Lt. Don Jiran.

A 13-year-old boy, who helped his grandmother get the teen to the hospital after the shooting, was arrested for possession of stolen property. Officers found a stolen handgun hidden inside the boy’s mattress at his grandmother’s house in Coeur d’Alene, Jiran said.

Police said the injured teen, who ran away from the Lifeskills Center in Coeur d’Alene, initially told officers that one of two men walking near 19th Street and Coeur d’Alene Avenue shot him. He later admitted accidentally shooting himself with a 12-gauge shotgun near Ninth Street and Coeur d’Alene Avenue.

Police found a 12-gauge shotgun under a pickup parked near that intersection. The truck had been reported stolen Monday in Potlatch, Idaho. Officers also found four rifles behind seats in the truck, according to the report.

Two more .22-caliber handguns were found hidden in the grandmother’s house. Police said one was tucked under a couch cushion next to a red backpack left there by her grandson and another inside a mattress in his downstairs bedroom.

Several rounds of ammunition also were found in the backpack.

The guns match the descriptions of ones stolen from the injured boy’s Sandpoint home, police said.

The teen will be arrested on burglary and grand theft charges for the Monday burglary of his parent’s house and the theft of the truck, Jiran said.

, DataTimes