WESTFIELD – A 63-year-old homeless man reportedly walked into the Baystate Noble Hospital emergency department Monday afternoon with a BB lodged in his brain and is expected to be discharged from the hospital – still with the BB in his brain.
City police report that a nurse at the hospital called at 5:39 p.m. Monday evening to report that a patient was being treated for a gunshot wound.
Officer Patrick Shea responded to the hospital and found that the victim had been shot with a BB which broke the skin above his eyebrow, near his nose, traveled through his sinus cavity and came to rest three quarters of the way inside his brain.
Det. Brian Freeman started to investigate the case and reports he found that the man had been shot at his homeless encampment in the morning but only later in the day sought help from a friend who took him to the hospital.
Although the victim initially denied knowing how he came to be shot, Freeman reports that after the victim was transported to Baystate Medical Center he was able to piece together the story.
Freeman said “everybody said he’s a super nice guy” and said his investigation found no reason to suspect that the shooting was done with malice. Instead, he said that the man was apparently shot accidentally by a friend who was visiting his camp site and fooling around with “a regular ‘pump up’ BB gun.”
The victim’s friend told Freeman that he had been shooting at a tree when the victim raised his head, entering the line of fire, and was shot.
Freeman reports that he visited the victim in the intensive care unit at Baystate Medical Center Wednesday evening and, after he told the victim what he had deduced, the man confirmed the account.
However, the victim stressed that the shooting was accidental and said that he did not want his friend to be charged in the incident. Freeman said that he does not expect to bring any changes against the shooter.
Freeman reports that he was told that, although the BB is still lodged inside the victim’s brain, the man was expected to be discharged from the hospital Thursday morning.
“He doesn’t even have a headache,” Freeman said.
