They were kids, three of them, who thought they were only playing a game.
But the game involved a bow and arrow, and it ended when one boy was fatally struck in the head.
West Virginia State Police say that Caleb Fairchild, 15, was killed Saturday night while playing a game his friends called “dodging arrows,” it was said. The death is believed to be an accident; the teenage boy who shot the arrow could be charged with involuntary manslaughter.
“They were in the front yard, they would take turns, one of them would actually run across the yard while another one would shoot the bow,” Trooper Randall Holden told the television station. “They said they weren’t trying to hit anybody, shooting into the grass, and I guess a stray arrow went up and struck Caleb in the head.”
It’s not clear who came up with the game, or why the kids decided to play it.
“I’ve been a policeman for almost 25 years. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of it,” State Police Sgt. C.R. Sutphin said. “They were just goofing around, thought it was a good idea. It’s just a bad decision, if you ask me.”
It’s not thought that Fairchild’s death was the result of a lack of adult supervision, Holden said, and no adults are facing any charges.
“I just think 15-year-old boys will be boys and they snuck out, wanting to shoot some bows and ended up getting into an incident,” he said.
Fairchild was an eighth grader in Chapmanville, W. Va., a small town 45 miles southwest of Charleston.
Carlee Adkins, a sixth grader, said she had been dating Fairchild since St. Patrick’s Day. The last text she received from him, on Saturday night, read: “Bye babe, I love you.”
She had never heard of the game, and didn’t think it was Fairchild’s idea, she said: “He never liked doing that stuff. That was somebody else’s suggestion.”
Counselors and a pastor were on site at Chapmanville Middle School Monday to comfort grieving students. But Adkins said she was too distraught to go to classes.
After he was shot, Fairchild was taken to Logan Regional Medical Center and then Charleston Area Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, the AP reported. Now state police and the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office are investigating exactly what happened.
Sutphin said that officials may pursue a negligent homicide charge.
Fairchild’s friends mourned him on Facebook, posting a picture of the boy wearing headphones in his ears, a swatch of blond hair falling into his eyes, the words “RIP Caleb” emblazoned over it in black lettering.
Adkins said that her boyfriend had been shy, artistic and a fan of any music other than country. He was teaching her how to skateboard. They’d been looking forward to going to the spring formal together.
“He was a nice kid and he was easy to hang out with and be around,” she said. “He’d do anything for a person.”
But the game involved a bow and arrow, and it ended when one boy was fatally struck in the head.
West Virginia State Police say that Caleb Fairchild, 15, was killed Saturday night while playing a game his friends called “dodging arrows,” it was said. The death is believed to be an accident; the teenage boy who shot the arrow could be charged with involuntary manslaughter.
“They were in the front yard, they would take turns, one of them would actually run across the yard while another one would shoot the bow,” Trooper Randall Holden told the television station. “They said they weren’t trying to hit anybody, shooting into the grass, and I guess a stray arrow went up and struck Caleb in the head.”
It’s not clear who came up with the game, or why the kids decided to play it.
“I’ve been a policeman for almost 25 years. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of it,” State Police Sgt. C.R. Sutphin said. “They were just goofing around, thought it was a good idea. It’s just a bad decision, if you ask me.”
It’s not thought that Fairchild’s death was the result of a lack of adult supervision, Holden said, and no adults are facing any charges.
“I just think 15-year-old boys will be boys and they snuck out, wanting to shoot some bows and ended up getting into an incident,” he said.
Fairchild was an eighth grader in Chapmanville, W. Va., a small town 45 miles southwest of Charleston.
Carlee Adkins, a sixth grader, said she had been dating Fairchild since St. Patrick’s Day. The last text she received from him, on Saturday night, read: “Bye babe, I love you.”
She had never heard of the game, and didn’t think it was Fairchild’s idea, she said: “He never liked doing that stuff. That was somebody else’s suggestion.”
Counselors and a pastor were on site at Chapmanville Middle School Monday to comfort grieving students. But Adkins said she was too distraught to go to classes.
After he was shot, Fairchild was taken to Logan Regional Medical Center and then Charleston Area Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, the AP reported. Now state police and the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office are investigating exactly what happened.
Sutphin said that officials may pursue a negligent homicide charge.
Fairchild’s friends mourned him on Facebook, posting a picture of the boy wearing headphones in his ears, a swatch of blond hair falling into his eyes, the words “RIP Caleb” emblazoned over it in black lettering.
Adkins said that her boyfriend had been shy, artistic and a fan of any music other than country. He was teaching her how to skateboard. They’d been looking forward to going to the spring formal together.
“He was a nice kid and he was easy to hang out with and be around,” she said. “He’d do anything for a person.”
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