A San Jose boy was rushed to the hospital with a rifle shot to the knee after his upstairs neighbor shot his own foot and the bullet penetrated the floor
A Northern California boy got a rude awakening early Wednesday morning when a bullet penetrated his bedroom ceiling from above and struck him while he slept.
Thankfully, the nine-year-old was struck in the knee and not fatally injured. However, he had to be rushed to a San Jose hospital for treatment, the Mercury-News reports.
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Police say the brush with disaster occurred when the boy's upstairs neighbor shot himself in the foot with a high-powered rifle, causing the bullet to go through the floor and into the apartment below.
According to a release provided to INSIDE EDITION by the San Jose police, the man was also taken to a hospital for treatment.
Police identified the man they say fired the round as 40-year-old Eric Smith.
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Smith has apparently had legal troubles in the past. He was arrested at the hospital and charged with, in addition to negligent discharge of a weapon, felon in possession of a firearm and felon in possession of ammunition. All three charges are felonies.
The boy's condition was listed as serious but non-fatal.
It was not immediately clear why Smith allegedly discharged his weapon toward the ground.
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