OWENSVILLE, MO ( KPLR ) -
Three year old Allison Schnieder from Owensville, MO was shot in the head Monday night by a stray bullet. She was taken to Children's Hospital in St. Louis where she died Tuesday afternoon from her injuries. It appears Schnieder was the unintended victim of a neighbor out target practicing with a 9 mm handgun.
A fifteen year old boy, his five year old sister, and the unrelated 3 year old victim were walking from the victim's house to a corral. They were going to look at livestock. They had no idea the neighbor was shooting.
"One of the kids said that he heard what he thought was a popping sound and then the girl dropped to the ground. The other two were not injured, " says Gasconade County Sherriff Randy Esphorst
Investigators recovered handguns and a rifle from a home 365 yards away from the victim.
"We saw the target area attached to a tree. It was a plate attached to a tree, so we knew that somebody had been shooting a target practicing. It's partially field and partially brushy or bushy type area. We had people at both where the victim was at and where the shooter was at and you can' see each other."
The sheriff says chances are astronomical something this tragic could happen.
"He was very distraught when we talked to him and informed him what was going on. Very, very distraught."
The investigation is ongoing at this time.
"Until we're able to recover bullet fragments from the victim or bullets to ballistically match up with the pistol, I'm not prepared to say for sure it came out of his pistol. We did canvas the entire area and didn't find anybody else that had been shooting at that particular time," says Sherriff Esphorst.
A fifteen year old boy, his five year old sister, and the unrelated 3 year old victim were walking from the victim's house to a corral. They were going to look at livestock. They had no idea the neighbor was shooting.
"One of the kids said that he heard what he thought was a popping sound and then the girl dropped to the ground. The other two were not injured, " says Gasconade County Sherriff Randy Esphorst
Investigators recovered handguns and a rifle from a home 365 yards away from the victim.
"We saw the target area attached to a tree. It was a plate attached to a tree, so we knew that somebody had been shooting a target practicing. It's partially field and partially brushy or bushy type area. We had people at both where the victim was at and where the shooter was at and you can' see each other."
The sheriff says chances are astronomical something this tragic could happen.
"He was very distraught when we talked to him and informed him what was going on. Very, very distraught."
The investigation is ongoing at this time.
"Until we're able to recover bullet fragments from the victim or bullets to ballistically match up with the pistol, I'm not prepared to say for sure it came out of his pistol. We did canvas the entire area and didn't find anybody else that had been shooting at that particular time," says Sherriff Esphorst.
