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TUSCUMBIA, Ala. — An Alabama teen who was shot in the head as the result of a prank gone wrong was still in critical condition Tuesday morning, and the case will go before a grand jury, authorities say.
Jesse Rainey, 15, was with a group of eight other teenage boys early Saturday morning at the home of one of the boy's relatives. The teens had a total of five handguns and two rifles at the home, authorities told WAAY TV.
A few members of the group walked outside and decided to prank the other members of the group by pretending the home was being broken into, according to police. At around 3:30 a.m., he group cut the power to the house in the breaker box and one teen crawled through an exterior window, took some video games and hid in a bedroom closet.
Police said Rainey went to the breaker box, which was located near the bedroom closet where the other teen was hiding. When Rainey opened the closet door, police say he was shot in the right side of the head with a .38-caliber revolver.
Despite reports to the contrary, Sheriff Ronnie May with the Colbert County Sheriff's Office confirmed to ksl.com that Rainey was not the teen who hid in the bedroom closet.
Sheriff Ronnie May with the Colbert County Sheriff's Office told WHNT the teens loaded Rainey into a truck and met emergency workers at a nearby store. May said the boys had tried to call 911, but could not tell dispatchers their exact location.
Rainey was taken to Children's Hospital in Colbert County, where he remains in critical condition. Investigators told WAAF no adults were present at the time of the shooting, and no alcohol or drugs were involved.
May said he does not believe the teen who shot Rainey had malicious intent.
"I think that all of them are being straight forward in what occurred, and again I just see it as something that went tragically wrong with the whole situation," he said.
No charges have been filed in the case, but a grand jury will decide if anyone will be indicted in the case, authorities told WAFF.
The case is the second high-profile accidental shooting in as many months. In September, a Connecticut teacher shot and killed a knife-wielding prowler in a black ski mask, only to learn later on that the intruder was his son.
