Man shoots girl he mistook for skunk

A 9-year-old girl who dressed up for Halloween was shot in the shoulder by a family member who mistook her black and white striped costume for a skunk.

The girl was alert and talking when she was taken to hospital in Pittsburgh, but a report on her condition is unavailable, says Pennsylvania's Beaver County Times. The shooter, who fired a shotgun, was a male relative of the victim. He had not been drinking at the time of the accident, according to New Sewickley Police Chief Ronald Leindecker.

Nevertheless he apparently managed to fire off a round at a girl wearing a black dress and black hat with a white tassel, apparently thinking he had the tiny mammal pictured above in his sights.