Texas Man Wounded After Bullet Ricochets Off Armadillo He Tried To Shoot

A Texas man was wounded by his own bullet when it ricocheted off an armadillo that he tried to shoot.

According to the motorist, as reported by USA Today, he was on state Highway 77 at 3 a.m. on Thursday when he attempted to shoot at an armadillo that he saw. Instead of killing the hard-shelled mammal, the bullet ricocheted and hit the man in the head.

Cass County officials say that the unnamed man had a graze on the head and was brought to the hospital to treat the minor injury. Reports do not indicate the condition of the armadillo that was shot. Deputies are calling the incident an “accidental shooting.”

According to a statement by Cass County Sheriff Larry Rowe, via Reuters, the man went inside his home to retrieve a .38 revolver. He then shot the armadillo three times. One of the bullets ricocheted off the shell, hitting the man in the head. Sheriff Rowe said that they didn’t find the armadillo at the scene.

Armadillos are mammals with a leathery shell that serves as their armor, which they use as their main defense. However, some armadillos are also known to protect themselves by digging or fleeing into thorny patches.

This isn’t the first time that a bullet ricocheted off an armadillo and hurt someone. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, a man tried to shoot an armadillo that wandered into his property, only for the bullet to ricochet and hit his mother-in-law in the back. The 74-year-old lady was inside the trailer located 100 yards away from where her son-in-law tried to shoot the armadillo. The bullet, according to the report, went through many obstacles before hitting the old lady, who was sitting inside their trailer.

In the previous incident, the old lady got away with a minor injury, but unfortunately, the armadillo didn’t make it.

[Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images]