LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A 16-year-old boy was shot, likely by another juvenile, near an elementary school in Liberty Township on Wednesday evening, according to the Butler County Sheriff's Office.
The sheriff's office said deputies were called to the 6900 block of Dutchland Parkway, near Woodland Elementary School and Liberty Junior High School, at around 9 p.m.
Deputies said they found a 16-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound to his leg; the boy was taken to UC West Chester Hospital and is expected to recover.
The sheriff's office said its early investigation has determined that the teen and two friends were walking from the Lakota Point Townhomes, through a field behind Woodland Elementary, when the teen was shot "from an undetermined location."
The teen's friends carried him to the parking lot at Woodland Elementary, where emergency crews responded, according to the sheriff's office.
Detectives at the scene found a black and purple 9mm handgun inside a large dumpster to the southwest of the school parking lot, the sheriff's office said. That gun had been reported stolen by the stepmother of the teen who was shot just the day before, according to the sheriff's office.
Surveillance footage showed that the teen was shot as a result of "the accidental discharge of the firearm by one of the juveniles while behind the dumpster," the Butler County Sheriff's Office said.
The shooting is still under investigation; the sheriff's office did not say whether anyone would face charges for the shooting.
