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TOOELE — A woman was taken to a local hospital in critical condition after accidentally shooting herself in the head Monday night.
The 38-year-old woman was target shooting with her boyfriend about 7:30 p.m. in Box Elder Canyon in the Stansbury Mountains, said Tooele County Sheriff's Lt. Ron Johnson.
She was sitting in a camping chair when it was her turn to shoot the .22-caliber weapon.
"She was handed the rifle. She went to stand up with the rifle in her hands and shot herself through the bottom chin. And the bullet exited through the bridge of her nose," Johnson said. "(It) sounds like she went to grab it by the trigger guard and actually pulled the trigger while standing up."
The boyfriend quickly got the woman in his car and started driving toward Grantsville so he could get cellphone reception to call 911. Along the way, he put socks in her mouth and had the girlfriend apply pressure to the bottom of her chin to slow the bleeding, Johnson said.
"He acted pretty quickly," the sheriff's lieutenant said.
When the couple rendezvoused with paramedics, she was able to communicate with them, Johnson said. The woman was flown to University Hospital where at last word she was being prepped for surgery Monday night, he said.
Johnson was unsure if any charges would be filed in connection with the incident, but said the county attorney may screen the case for discharge of a firearm while intoxicated.
Contributing: Paul Nelson
