In New Sewickley Township, Pennsylvania, a man shot a nine-year-old girl at a Halloween party on Saturday, under the mistaken belief that the girl, who was wearing a black-and-white costume, was a skunk.  But the man, who is believed to be related to the shooting victim, has not been charged with anything.  Instead, the Pennsylvania Game Commission is investigating to determine whether he was breaking any game-hunting laws, had it actually been a skunk he was shooting.  Clearly, the state of Pennsylvania has its priorities straight!

As the local Beaver County Times (which has scored a bit of a coup in securing the timesonline.com domain) reports, “Game commission regulations classify skunks as furbearers, and there no seasonal restrictions — with the exception of not being allowed to hunt on Sundays — on shooting them. There are also no bag limits on skunks.”  So as long as he shot her before midnight, it sounds like he should be okay.  The girl, meanwhile, was reportedly “flown to UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh with a wound in her shoulder,” though the BC Times was unable to provide an update on her condition.

In any case, it seems the local cops are waiting on the game commission before they decide to go any further in their investigation.  As of Monday, no charges have been filed, but the Times reports “more information about the case would be available at some point during the day.”  The suspense is killing me!