Shooting at Spring Hill apartment complex deemed 'accidental:' HCSO
SPRING HILL, Fla. - A Hernando County shooting that left one person injured at a Spring Hill apartment complex on Wednesday has been deemed accidental, according to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.
According to HCSO, deputies responded to Mariner's Cay Apartments in Spring Hill at around 1 p.m. on Wednesday to find a male victim suffering from a gunshot wound to his torso.
The victim was treated on scene by fire rescue before being taken to a local trauma center. Witnesses identified the person who fired the gunshot as an 18-year-old and said he left the complex in an Uber.
READ: Suspect in custody after 1 injured in shooting in Spring Hill: HCSO
Deputies immediately began searching for the suspect and worked with school resource deputies to identify an address for him. They eventually obtained his last known address and placed him into custody.
The 18-year-old immediately told deputies the shooting was accidental, according to HCSO, and he was unaware that the firearm was loaded.
He told deputies he and the victim are friends and were playing video games together in the apartment when he removed the firearm from his backpack to show it to the victim. While holding the firearm, it went off and struck the victim in the torso.
According to HCSO, the victim also told deputies the shooting was accidental before being taken to the hospital. Two witnesses who were present in the apartment also corroborated the 18-year-old's statement that the shooting was accidental, and the sheriff's office released him from custody and took him back to his home.
Detectives are working to determine the origin of the firearm.