Filippiada: 16-Year-old undergoes lengthy surgery after being shot in the head

The local community in Filippiada has been left in shock following the serious self-inflicted gunshot injury to the head sustained by a 16-year-old boy after a firearm accident.

The teenager shot himself in the courtyard of his home when the weapon he was holding discharged under circumstances that remain unclear.

He was transferred to the University Hospital of Ioannina on New Year’s Day at midday, suffering from a severe head injury.

The 16-year-old’s condition

The teenager is being treated in an Intensive Care Unit after undergoing a lengthy surgical operation late at night.

Doctors are cautiously optimistic about the course of his recovery, but his condition remains critical, according to public broadcaster ERT.

Medical staff stress that several 24-hour periods must pass before they can draw clearer conclusions about the progression of his health.

How the accident occurred

According to information released so far, the incident took place at around 4:00 p.m., when the minor, without his father noticing, took a hunting shotgun—reportedly to scare birds away from the yard of the family home.

Under circumstances that have yet to be clarified, he slipped and fell, causing the weapon to discharge and resulting in a serious gunshot wound to the head.

In connection with the incident, the boy’s father was arrested for negligent storage of a firearm but was later released on the oral order of the competent prosecutor. The minor was transferred to Ioannina for treatment, while a preliminary investigation is being conducted by the local police authorities.