A nine-year old boy in Pilot Station died on Friday after being shot in the chest with an air rifle by another nine-year-old boy. According to the Anchorage Daily News, the boys were arguing at the time that 4th grader Spencer Polty was killed. Clinic staff in the community of about 500 near Bethel tried unsuccessfully to administer CPR. State Troopers are not holding the other child in custody.
Anne Hillman is the healthy communities editor at Alaska Public Media and a host of Hometown, Alaska.