Father accidentally shoots son in face while hunting

An 11-year-old boy was shot in the face Sunday morning in a Reno County hunting accident.

The accident happened shortly before 10 a.m. near Pretty Prairie, according to a Facebook post from the Reno County Sheriff’s Office.

Jean Carlos Alcala of Wichita, 37, told the sheriff’s officers that he, his 11-year-ld old son, Gabriel, and nephew, Isaiah Quirarte, 9, were hunting birds at a walk-in hunting field in the 26000 block of S. Dean Rd.

Jean Carlos Alcala said he swung his 12 gauge shotgun to the left to shoot at a flying bird and accidently shot his son, Gabriel. He said the boy had walked 20 feet to the left and a little ahead of his father when some of the birdshot struck Gabriel in the face.

An earlier Facebook post from the Sheriff’s Office said that a man and his two sons were hunting in the area. As they were walking in tall grass a bird flew up and the 9-year-old swung and shot, accidentally hitting the 11-year-old boy in the face with several BBs.

Reno County Sheriff’s officers now say it was the father’s gunshot that hit the boy.

The 11-year-old was taken to Via Christi St. Joseph Hospital in Wichita. The wounds were described as superficial.

This story was originally published November 19, 2017 at 2:05 PM with the headline "Father accidentally shoots son in face while hunting."