An 18-year-old is recovering in a Phoenix hospital after he was accidentally shot by a teenager in Payson.
Last Saturday, police say Carlos Travieso, a 14-year-old girl and others were returning home from church camp when the group stopped at a gas station near Beeline Highway and Aero Drive in Payson.
According to a police spokesperson, as the church leader was inside the gas station Travieso and the teen found a handgun and the girl accidentally shot Travieso in the back.
"She was not very familiar with weapons," Payson Police Chief Donald Engler told ABC15. "(She) believed that the firearm was unloaded and accidentally discharged a round."
According to authorities, the group leader returned and drove Travieso to a nearby hospital and. He was then flown to a hospital in Phoenix.
Travieso is expected to be OK and underwent surgery, officials said.
Engler says this should serve as a reminder to anyone who owns a gun.
"It's incumbent upon all of us that possess firearms and that type of thing to be responsible and try to think ahead of situations that can occur," Engler said.
The Payson Police Department will forward their case to the Gila County Attorney's Office for review.
