SKOWHEGAN — The father of a Skowhegan man who was shot in the head with a BB gun on Sunday said Tuesday that the metallic ball is lodged in his son’s brain and could result in lasting brain damage.
Witnesses told police on Sunday that 19-year-old Charles Quimby was shot in the head with a pellet gun or a BB gun by 20-year-old William McCarty at 44 Joyce St. No criminal charges have been filed.
Contacted by phone Tuesday afternoon, Jade Goodridge, of Clifton, Charles Quimby’s father, said his son is doing well at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor but could suffer lasting effects from the wound, including problems with balance and coordination. Goodridge said his son’s condition is improving, but the BB penetrated his skull and can be seen on X-ray images.
“It could affect his eyes and partial movement. It’s in his brain,” Goodridge said. “He’s doing a little better. He’s going to make it; so far everything is good.”
Goodridge said he “doesn’t really know the facts of how it all went down,” but that he has been told it was an accident. He said X-rays at the hospital showed “a perfectly round object” in his son’s head and doctors assume it is a BB, and not a pellet as reported earlier by police.
BBs are round and usually made of steel. Pellets evolved after BBs, and most pellets today are made in the Diablo or “wasp waist” shape, according to Air Gun Depot. A pellet is hollow and flares out to full diameter when pressurized by the gun. BBs are hard and remain round after being shot.
Skowhegan police Chief David Bucknam said Tuesday afternoon that the shot was in fact a BB and entered Quimby’s head through the left temple. He said Quimby remains in critical condition.
A man who lives at the home where the incident occurred said Tuesday morning that Quimby was “stable.”
The young man who answered the door at the Joyce Street residence late Tuesday morning identified himself as Ricky but declined to comment on the shooting.
“He’s OK,” Ricky said of Quimby. “He’s stable. That’s the last I heard.”
Quimby’s cousin, Jade Anderson, who grew up in Madison, said she has been in touch with the family since the shooting and is encouraged by what she is hearing.
“He had a good night last night, is breathing on his own now,” Anderson told the Morning Sentinel on social media.
Anderson said Quimby’s mother, Lauri Quimby, posted a positive message Monday night on Facebook.
“Things are looking more positive by the hour,” Lauri Quimby wrote. “He is off his ventilator and breathing on his own. He said hello to the doctor twice when asked if he could.”
Anderson said she had no knowledge of the shooting incident.
Police officers responded to a medical assistance 911 call at 44 Joyce St. in Skowhegan’s South Side neighborhood just after noon Sunday, Bucknam said. Quimby was taken to Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan but was soon transferred by helicopter to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where he was listed in critical condition.
A spokeswoman for EMMC said Tuesday evening Quimby was in serious condition.
Skowhegan police went to the scene Sunday with the assistance of the State Police Major Crimes Unit.
Skowhegan’s Criminal Investigation Division is conducting an investigation into the incident, Bucknam said. A search warrant was executed at the home to collect the BB gun, or rifle, and other items of interest, he said.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter:@Doug_Harlow
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