Boy, 11, shot by 13-year-old playing with gun on southern Alberta Hutterite colony

An 11-year-old boy has been taken to hospital after being shot by a 13-year-old who wasplaying with a gun on a southern Alberta Hutteritecolony.

RCMP said on Mondayat approximately 11:30 a.m., police and EMS responded to Pincher Creek Hospital for an 11-year-old from Pincher Creek Hutterite Colony whohad been shot in the chest.

Police said a 13-year-old boy found a loaded .22-calibrepistol in an outbuilding at the colony and was playing with it, when the gun accidentally discharged and hit the 11-year-old boy in the chest.

No adults were present at the time.

RCMPCpl. Jeff Feist said the child's family took him to hospital in Pincher Creek, where he wasstabilized and transported to the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary for treatment.

RCMP said they continue to investigate the incident, as well as the safety and storage of the gun.

Feistsaid as the shooting appears to be accidental, it's unlikely the 13-year-old will be charged, but police are weighing charges against the gun's owner for improper storage.

"From my experience and across Canada, the knowledge and efforts to make firearms safe have gotten far better. So in our area, certainly, it's a rare occurrence that we get anybody accidentally shot," he said. "In this instance, obviously the law wasn't followed."

Feist said the gun has been seizedand that members of the colony were co-operative with police.

The Hutterite colony is located about 220 kilometres south of Calgary, not far from the Alberta-U.S. border.