Police: Costumed girl mistaken for skunk, shot

FREEDOM, Pennsylvania – Police said a costumed 9-year-old girl was accidentally shot outside a western Pennsylvania home during a Halloween party by a relative who thought she was a skunk.

New Sewickley Township police said the girl was over a hillside and wearing a black costume and a black hat with a white tassel. Chief Ronald Leindecker said a male relative mistook her for a skunk and fired a shotgun, hitting her in the shoulder Saturday night.

Leindecker told the Beaver County Times that the girl was alert and talking when she was flown to a hospital in Pittsburgh, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) away. Her condition was unavailable.

Leindecker said the man hadn’t been drinking and he didn’t know whether charges will be filed.