Pa. state police investigating shooting of 14-year-old boy

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — A 14-year-old New Castle, Pa., boy remained in critical condition today with a gunshot wound to his head in St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown after being flown there from Jameson Hospital in New Castle.

The victim, whose name has not been released, was in a hunting cabin on Spring Valley Lane near Lakewood-Neshannock Falls Road in Hickory Township with two other New Castle boys, ages 15 and 17, when the gun discharged at 3:20 a.m. today.

The 15-year-old, for reasons to be determined by authorities, fired a .32-caliber handgun, which already was in the cabin, striking the 14-year-old in the head, state police said.

No adults were in the hunting cabin, which is in a camp owned by an adult friend of the 17-year-old’s family, police said, adding that criminal charges are pending.