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5-year-old Anderson boy shot in the head with BB gun

Posted at 2:37 PM, Jun 04, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-05 18:34:26-04

ANDERSON, Ind. -- Despite being in the hospital for a metal pellet lodged in his head, a 5-year-old boy from Anderson, Indiana is as back to normal as he can be -- feeding gummy worms to his stuffed snake.

Bentley Chesnut was riding on a golf cart with his parents in the area of Alexandria Pike near the Killbuck Trace addition around 10 p.m. Friday evening when he was shot with a BB or pellet gun in the back of the head. 

"We heard a pop," said Bentley's mother, Natasha McAdams. "Bentley screamed and I reached back and felt blood on the back of his head."

Because Chesnut's skull isn't as thick as an adult's developed skull, the pellet entered his head, dangerously close to his brain.

"In Bentley's case, he's very fortunate," said Andrea Scherer, a pediatric neurosurgery fellow at Riley Hospital, said. "It didn't damage any blood vessels and it's wedged between several veins."

Scherer said because removing the pellet would require invasive, potentially dangerous surgery, they've chosen to keep it inside his head.

"I know if it had been a little further, we'd be having a completely different conversation," McAdams said. 

Watch McAdams' remarks on the injury in the video player above.

Bentley was released from Riley Hospital for children Monday, shortly after a 14-year-old boy admitted to shoting the BB gun that struck Bentley.

Anderson police say the case remains under investigation.

If you have any information about someone shooting pellet or BB guns in that area Friday evening contact the Anderson Police Department at 765-648-6775.

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