Accidental shooting victim home from hospital

The 8-year-old Gerber girl accidentally shot with a shotgun last week is home and back in school.

"She still has bandages on her arm," said the girl's grandmother on Tuesday. "But she is OK and at school today."

Tehama County sheriff's deputies and CalFire personnel responded April 22 to the girl's home on the 9100 block of Oat Avenue, where they found her suffering from wounds to her arm and abdomen.

An ambulance transported her to St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff. From there, she was taken by medical helicopter to U.C. Davis Medical Center in Sacramento where she was treated for her injuries.

"During the investigation, we learned a 20-gauge shotgun had been used early that day for shooting vermin on the property," said Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston. "It was then loaded and placed leaning against a wall in the dining room."

With the butt of the gun sitting on a wicker chair and the gun leaning against the wall, it appears one of several dogs at the home bumped the chair, causing the loaded gun to fall and discharge, the Sheriff's Office reported.

The girl was sitting on the couch in the living room with a 7-year-old friend from Red Bluff, when she was struck by the birdshot, which went through the arm of the couch before hitting her in the arm and abdomen, the sheriff's office reported.

The girls were the only ones in the room, the sheriff's office reported, but an adult was in a bedroom and other family members were outside the home.

"The shotgun was taken into evidence by the department," Johnston said.

Whether or not criminal charges will be filed in the incident has not been announced by the Tehama County District Attorney's Office.