12-year-old Liberty County boy injured by exploding bullet

A young man learned this weekend that heating up a bullet casing can have severe consequences to life and limb.

The Liberty County Sheriff's Office reports that late Sunday afternoon they responded to an emergency call from a mother, Rachel Mendoza, who said that her son, 12, had found a .22 LR caliber round and decided to experiment with it. The incident occurred at their home off C.R. 686 in Dayton.

"He had held a cigarette lighter under a .22-caliber round to see what would happen," according to the sheriff's report. "The bullet exploded, sending bullet fragments through his left middle finger and lodging in the left eye lid."

Deputies caught up with Mendoza and her son at a McDonald's location in Dayton while they were en route to a hospital in Humble for treatment. The injury had been deemed non-life threatening so Mendoza had decided to drive her son to the hospital herself.

Capt. Ken DeFoor with the Liberty County Sheriff's Office said Monday that he had last heard that the boy did not suffer any vision damage in the accident, but he does hope that he at least learned something.

"There was a a little blood and he will have some scars, but I think he did gain some knowledge," said DeFoor, adding that the boy is lucky to have gotten out of the situation without being blinded.

On a related note, .22-caliber ammo has been in short supply at sporting goods and gun stores due to increased market demand over the past year. Many factors have been to blame for the shortage, including the rising cost of raw materials and delays in manufacturing.