16-year old boy wounded on playground by shooter who wanted to "scare someone"

A 16-year old Independence, Missouri boy was playing at an elementary school playground when he was shot in the knee.

Jeffrey Dowell, age 18, shot the boy with a rifle from his back deck.

From the article:

The teen never saw it coming. That’s because 18-year-old Jeffrey Dowell of Independence fired the shot from his backyard. Dowell has he didn’t mean to shoot anyone, he just wanted to scare them. When he took aim at the a playground, police say the result could’ve been deadly.

The boy who was hit was sitting on a swing on the playground of Elm Grove Elementary when the shooting happened.

....

Police were led to Dowell’s house after interviewing a number of kids. Detectives say Dowell’s own brother turned him in saying he had pointed his rifle at the school before. Dowell admitted to detectives that he could see the victim through the scope of his rifle. But insisted he just meant to hit the pole next to the kid but he knew he might hit the kid by mistake and fired anyway.

....

Dowell is charged with assault and armed criminal action. If the bullet fired from his back deck had been a few inches higher, the charge might’ve been manslaughter.

(additional information HERE)