An 11-year-old boy is in critical condition in hospital and a man faces charges after a shooting Thursday night in Lunenburg County.
The RCMP say the boy was inside a house in Middlewood when a shotgun went off, injuring him in the abdomen.
"We do believe it was accidental," said Const. Rob James.
The boy was treated at the South Shore Regional Hospital before he was airlifted to the IWK children's hospital in Halifax.
A 27-year-old man from Queens County has been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm and careless use of a firearm.
"When we do lay a charge like that, despite the fact it's an accident, circumstances dictate that perhaps it could've been prevented, and that charges are appropriate in that case," James said.
The man was released from custody after agreeing to surrender all his firearms. He is scheduled to appear in court in January.
James said the man knows the boy but is not related to him.
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