Teen survives shotgun blast to his groin

A Spokane Valley teenager was shot in the groin by his brother who was cleaning a shotgun when the weapon discharged Saturday evening. The shotgun was loaded with bird shot, which passed through a sofa before striking the teenager in the apparently accidental shooting, a Spokane County sheriff’s spokesman said. The youth, whose injuries were not considered life-threatening, was taken to a local hospital. Officers responding to the shooting at an apartment on the 700 block of North McDonald Road discovered a small marijuana-growing operation in a closet of the apartment, the spokesman said. The incident remained under investigation.