CHAFFEE BOY HURT IN GUN ACCIDENT

CHAFFEE -- A 12-year-old boy, playing with his father's revolver, accidentally shot himself in the head Saturday night. Authorities said he wasn't expected to live.

The shooting occurred about 6:30 p.m.

Dusty Ray Cooper of Chaffee was still breathing and still had a pulse when police arrived on the scene, said Jim Haney, acting Chaffee police chief.

Cooper was taken by Scott County Ambulance to St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

Hospital officials reported to police at 8 p.m. that Cooper's injuries appeared to be terminal.

Haney gave this account of the shooting:

It occurred at Cooper's home at 107 West Clarman. Cooper was at home with an 11-year-old friend. His parents, Esten and Pam Cooper, weren't home at the time.

Dusty Cooper took his father's .22-caliber revolver and began playing with it.

The loaded gun went off, and the bullet struck Cooper.

Haney said such shootings are hard to accept, particularly in small towns like Chaffee. "Everybody knows everybody," he said.