Teen dies from rifle discharge

BLOOMING GROVE – Police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting of a 14-year-old Blooming Grove boy who died hours later Monday night while undergoing surgery.

Daniel Morgan was shot in the chest by a round from a 30-30 rifle that fired when it fell and hit the floor. He died while undergoing surgery at the Arden Hill Campus of Orange Regional Medical Center in Goshen, Blooming Grove Police said.

Town and State Police, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and Medical Examiners’ Office continue to investigate what happened.

The rifle went off when it was bumped off a hook on a wall and still to be determined is whether there was a defect in the weapon causing it to discharge or whether it fired as it hit the floor when Morgan tried to grab it, police said.

The incident occurred on Donna Jean Drive in the neighborhood where the boy lived.