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NOBLE, Okla. — A stray bullet fired by a police officer trying to shoot a snake hit and killed a 5-year-old boy fishing at a nearby pond, officials said.

Austin Haley was fishing with his grandfather, Jack Tracy, Friday evening when Tracy said he heard a shot and saw a bullet hit the water just a few feet in front of the boat dock where he was standing.

Moments later, a second shot was fired that hit Austin in the head.

A Noble police officer who had responded to a report of a snake in a tree apparently fired the deadly shot while trying to kill the snake, according to City Manager Bob Wade.

Tracy said he initially thought he and his grandson were under attack by someone trying to kill them, so he put the boy into the back of a 4-wheeler and drove to his daughter's house about 200 yards away.

"Then two officers came out of the brush over there," he told The Oklahoman. "They didn't tell us they were the ones who had been shooting or that they had shot him. They didn't admit a doggone thing."

The boy was taken to an Oklahoma City hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

A resident of the Crest Lane neighborhood called police after discovering a large snake in a tree, Wade said.

"I was told that they tried several ways to get the snake down, but it was still hissing at them and firmly lodged," Wade said. "What I was told is that the owner of the home either suggested or agreed that they should go ahead and shoot the snake, and then everything happened from there."

Wade refused to identify the officer suspected of firing the shots but said the officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

"This is so bizarre it has to be fully investigated. ... We're pretty sure circumstantially that it is the bullet from the police officer's gun, but it might be a bullet from someone else," Wade said.

A state investigation has been launched into the shooting, and it appears the fatal shot was fired by the officer, said Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jessica Brown.

"We have no reason to believe it's not," Brown said. "But there certainly will be an investigation."

Tracy has little doubt about what happened.

"I'm not saying the cop shot him on purpose," Tracy said. "It was an accident. But let me tell you — if I had a kid and put him in this car and didn't put him in a car seat and he got killed on the way to town, they'd charge me with murder ... and what this cop did is a lot worse than that."

Wow, go figure, inept law enforcement.

I hate cops, and any story detailing their ineptitude won't surprise me.

I don't like judges either.

Anyone who sells out to the man and tries to rationalize it in anyway is public enemy #1. Truly unamerican.

Wow, what a shame. Must have really hated snakes. Had to shoot the thing.....?

SAD.

nice JOB Barney Fife.

Aunt Bea won't be bringing you Pies any time soon.

And what will most likely blow your mind is it was probably non-venomous and posed no real threat.

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"I'm not saying the cop shot him on purpose," Tracy said. "It was an accident. But let me tell you — if I had a kid and put him in this car and didn't put him in a car seat and he got killed on the way to town, they'd charge me with murder ... and what this cop did is a lot worse than that."

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No, they wouldn't. I don't know what they can charge this cop with but he deserves to get the harshest punishment possible. This has got to be one of the dumbest irresponsible thing I have read about a cop.

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I don't know what they can charge this cop with but he deserves to get the harshest punishment possible.

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Involuntary manslaughter. Anyone that owns a firearm is responsible for knowing the 4 rules of gun safety:

Treat every gun as if it were loaded.

Always keep the barrel pointed in a safe direction.

Keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot.

Be sure of your target and everything beyond it!

Or it could be "negligent homicide".

I'm no legal expert by any stretch of the imagination,but I believe if you look at your "four rules of gun safety" he was being negligent in firing the weapon.

And it does sound like a "small town". But I'd have to believe that they have some type of "game warden or animal control" that would have been far more appropriate to handle this situation. If that is the case,and this officer was actually doing something "out of his authority" rather than calling the "proper people" to deal with the snake,his problem could be pretty severe.

Who knows for sure? But the situation is starting to draw national attention,so it won't easily be swept under the rug.

JMHO

Stupid cop.
And a lousy shot, too. Dumbass.

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And it does sound like a "small town". But I'd have to believe that they have some type of "game warden or animal control" that would have been far more appropriate to handle this situation. If that is the case,and this officer was actually doing something "out of his authority" rather than calling the "proper people" to deal with the snake,his problem could be pretty severe

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I was thinking the same thing, just call the "animal people" Or just leave the damn snake alone, tell the people to just be careful and look before you leap. No need to shoot the thing, not like it was wrapped around your iPod!

Anyone find out how big the snake was or if it was poisonous?

I bet you it was a big Garter Snake.

What a shame.

And I'm still trying to figure out how it hit the boy, was the gun shot in the air? And how could the officer miss? Or was it a ricochet?

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was the gun shot in the air?

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Probably if the cop was on the ground and the snake was in a tree...

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And how could the officer miss? Or was it a ricochet?

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The article doesn't say, but it could have gone straight through the snake and out the other side and still had enough velocity to hit the boy...