Boy Wounded In Rifle Accident Shot By Older Brother At Home

A 9-year-old Chilco boy was flown to Sacred Heart Medical Center Saturday after his older brother accidentally shot him in the neck.

Jonathan L. Breitkreutz was listed in critical condition in Spokane as of Saturday night.

It appears the boy’s 12-year-old brother, Anthony J. Breitkreutz, accidentally shot him with a .22 magnum rifle, said Kootenai County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ward Crawford.

“They’re good kids, they love each other,” said the boys’ aunt, Charlene Carhart.

“They’re like best friends.”

The boys were inside their mobile home north of Coeur d’Alene at 22705 N. Estates Road when the shooting happened.

It appears the boys had been playing with the gun when it went off at about 4:20 p.m., Crawford said.

“The parents were only outside of the house for a few minutes,” Crawford said.

“Things apparently happened very quickly.”

Anthony Breitkreutz told deputies he was putting the gun away. He was carrying the gun down a hallway when it fired into the kitchen, hitting his younger brother, Crawford said.

The boys were about 10 yards apart.

The bullet hit Jonathan Breitkreutz in the lower left jaw near the neck.

Emergency workers were unsure whether the bullet exited the wound.

The older brother ran across the street to his aunt’s house for help. Carhart then phoned authorities.

Although Jonathan Breitkreutz lost a lot of blood, he was still conscious when emergency workers arrived.

A helicopter, kicking up clouds of dust, landed at his aunt’s house and emergency workers loaded the boy on board.

Crawford said it does not appear Anthony Breitkreutz intended to hurt his younger brother.

“He was real shook up,” Crawford said. “Everybody’s pretty shook up.”

After watching the helicopter leave, Carhart said the boys don’t usually play with guns.

“It’s just an unfortunate accident,” she said.

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