Celebratory Gunfire Critically Wounds Florida Boy

RUSKIN, Fla. – Authorities say they believe celebratory New Year's gunfire falling from the sky critically injured a 12-year-old Tampa Bay-area boy.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said the boy's family was sitting outside their Ruskin home around 1 a.m. Sunday and watching fireworks.

Sheriff's office spokesman Larry McKinnon said the boy's mother saw him fall to the ground, bleeding from his nose and eyes. She drove him to a hospital, where doctors determined he had suffered a gunshot wound from a bullet that entered the top of his head.

McKinnon said the boy remains hospitalized in Tampa in critical condition with the bullet still in his head.

Detectives say no one nearby had been firing a gun. They say the boy apparently was struck by celebratory gunfire that could have been fired miles away.