Unusual Occurrence

On July 27, 2021, at about 11:35am, Seneca County Sheriff’s Deputies and Investigators responded to the area of Nielsen Road and Route 96A in the Town of Fayette for the report of a fourteen year old male that had sustained a gunshot to the arm. Upon the arrival of responding officers, a tourniquet was applied to the unidentified male by Sheriff’s Deputies and members of the Varick Fire Department in an effort to control his bleeding. The male was then treated on scene by North Seneca Ambulance and airlifted from the scene to Strong Memorial Hospital by Lifenet. The male is expected to survive.

The preliminary investigation revealed that the male was firing a shotgun in a field and the shotgun malfunctioned which caused the barrel to explode. The male was then struck by a piece of the shrapnel from the barrel and was never struck by a round from the shotgun. The cause into the malfunction remains under investigation.