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Chad Greenhalgh, a 16-year-old Nephi youth, is recovering from injuries after being hit by a stray 7 mm caliber rifle bullet fired by a neighboring farmer last Tuesday, Oct. 14. The boy was moving sprinkler pipe on his family's farm about a mile southwest of Nephi. A man in a nearby corn field was attempting to shoot a coyote when the accident occurred. The corn field was more than a half-mile away, according to Juab County Sheriff Alden Orme.

Investigators believe a bullet may have ricocheted and traveled six-tenths of a mile to where the boy was working. The incident is still under investigation. The shooter's name has not officially been released.

"There was nothing that indicated that it was an intentional shot," Orme said.

The man (shooter) was harvesting his crop with a corn thrasher around 3 p.m. when he spotted the coyote, Orme said. From atop the thrasher, the man fired three shots at the animal. Investigators found evidence that the coyote had been wounded.

"We tracked it but were unable to come up with it," said Orme.

The boy was struck in the left shoulder. The bullet inflicted some internal injures, broke some ribs and exited his back, police said. He was transported to Central Valley Medical Center in critical but stable condition. He was then transferred by air to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City.

Farmers firing shots at wild animals is common in rural areas of the state, Orme explained, but added that he had not seen another situation like this.