BB gun pellet injures teenager’s eye in Espoo

A 17-year-old boy suffered retinal damage after being hit in the eye by a BB gun pellet in Espoo on Sunday evening, Yle reports. Police are investigating the case, but have not identified the person or people suspected.

The boy said he was walking home from a grocery store at about 9pm when he was shot near a playground in the Suurpelto district. He saw boys he estimated to be in sixth or seventh grade playing with the gun and went over to warn them about the danger. One of them apologised and asked whether he could see.

At first, the teenager did not notice a change in his vision. When he got home and looked at his phone, he saw a black area in his field of vision. He later found that his retina was damaged. His family does not yet know whether the injury will cause permanent harm.

The boy says he still has a cloudy patch in his vision and ongoing pain. His father said he will need eye-pressure checks every two months for 10 years.

The father filed a police report. West Uusimaa Police are investigating suspected negligent injury and possession of an object or substance capable of seriously harming another person. Police said similar BB gun shootings are reported to them occasionally, but are not very common.

The boy said the weapon was a hobby BB gun, which fires pellets smaller than a pea and resembles a real firearm. Such guns may not be brought into public places without a protective case.

The father said Suurpelto had become more unsettled during the seven years the family had lived there, though neither he nor his son was afraid to move around the district.