A 16-year-old boy has been charged with deliberately shooting a 6-year-old boy as the younger boy played in his grandparents' Swifts Beach backyard on Jan. 25.

The 6-year-old boy, Sean Carduff, was struck by a pellet gun shot, according to Wareham Police Department Interim Chief Kevin Walsh.

The injuries were not fatal. The 16-year-old boy of 79 Swifts Beach Road shot the pellet from "a high-powered airsoft-type weapon," according to police.

“We’re hanging in there. Sean is healing up quickly,” said Renee Lemois, Sean’s mother. “My thing is right now, we can’t feel safe sending our kids to school. Now, I can’t feel safe sending my son to the backyard. Where will it stop? I’m lucky, though. There’s countless parents who have lost children to similar violence.”

A search of 79 Swifts Beach Road resulted in recovery of two airsoft rifles and pellets from the upstairs area of the home, police said. Rifles and pellets allegedly belonged to the 16-year-old.

Police said further investigation revealed that the 16-year-old deliberately shot the pellet at Sean.

Walsh said the 16-year-old was charged on Jan. 31, and will receive a court summons. The boy is now at home.

“It was amazing -- the power of these guns,” said Scott Carduff, Sean’s grandfather of 77 Swifts Beach Road. “For him to lean out the back window, and shoot him in the arm after going 75 feet, through a winter jacket, through a sweatshirt and through a t-shirt.”

Carduff said Sean and an 8-year-old, who were both playing outside at the time of the incident, were later asked if they heard anything before Sean had been shot. The boys said, both individually and together, that they heard a “crack.”

“They didn’t make anything of it because trees crack in the woods and stuff, but when he got hit, he said he heard the crack,” Carduff said. “So, he tried once and missed.”

Carduff then pointed to his left ear and said: “It was close. It could have gotten him right here.”

“They took him to the hospital, and of course everyone here is freaking out,” Carduff said. “The x-ray showed that it went straight to the bone, that’s how deep it went.”

Sean was treated at the scene by Wareham Emergency Medical Services personnel and transported to Tobey Hospital. The boy was moved on to Hasbro after the pellet, initially lodged in his shoulder, migrated to his arm. Sean was treated at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Rhode Island and has since returned home, according to police.

For Lemois, she did not realize the seriousness of the situation until seeing the x-ray.

“Now, I stand and stare at my son and think of how lucky I am,” Lemois said.

“I don’t know how long it’s going to be before he can feel safe again, and I’m certainly sure he’s not going to feel safe out here,” Carduff said. “We don’t know what the consequences of this situation will be for the victim and the perpetrator.”

Carduff said that Sean has played in the backyard many times since the neighbors moved in last fall.

“I don’t play in the back yard, but when the sons come over, they’ll play football or catch. We never had any interaction with the other family,” Carduff said. “That’s what makes it weird.”

“It’s senseless. It’s senseless to point a weapon at someone who’s not trying to kill you,” Carduff said.

Carduff said the father of the 16-year-old did apologize to him.

“The father came over, and he was devastated. He apologized. I can’t tell you how many times he said he was sorry,” Carduff said. “He seemed like he really wanted to get it straightened out. With his son, he wanted to find out what was going on with him.”

“I’m glad he came over. He was probably a little angry with his son,” Carduff said. “I said, ‘thank you for reaching out.’ The only thing I would have done differently than him was carry the 16-year-old by the collar and have him do it… but he did the right thing.”

“He’s making sure his son is held accountable,” Lemois said. “It’s good to see.”

Wareham detectives filed charges in Wareham District Court, charging the 16-year-old. The 16-year-old, who was not identified because of his age, was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (a BB gun) and being a minor discharging a BB gun.

Carduff hopes that the 16-year-old “gets help.”

“What happens when he turns 18 and buy a hand gun? He almost killed my son,” Lemois said.

“I’m in shock. I was inches away from planning my son’s funeral,” Lemois said. “I’m still trying to process everything."

Carduff wishes that this situation does not have a lifelong impact on Sean.

“He doesn’t like to talk about it too much,” Lemois said.

In the week since the shooting, Lemois is happy that Sean is beginning to open up about it. She wants to make sure her son deals with the situation as well as possible.

“I hope he forgives this person. He can’t be angry with this kid,” Lemois said.

However, she also wants her son to get back to normal life.

“The school psychologist met with him, and told me that school has been an escape for him, being with his friends and teachers,” Lemois said. “I was happy to hear that.”

Carduff said Sean and the 8-year-old were building snowmen at the time of incident.

“It was pretty bizarre. You don’t expect something like that to happen to you,” Carduff said. “The fathers were inside, and everything was fine. The little boy just starts screaming,”

“At first, we thought the 8-year-old did something to the 6-year-old. There were only two kids playing in the backyard. The one kid starts screaming, you figure the other kid did it,” Carduff said. “As soon as the boy’s father started taking the boy’s jacket off, you could see blood as you were peeling clothes away, and there was the bullet hole in the shoulder.”

“Soon as we saw it, we knew what it was,” Carduff said.

There appears to be lasting effects for all parties involved.

Lemois said Sean’s father, James Carduff, has been bothered by the situation. James works in a welding job which sends him all over the country. Work now has him on the opposite end of the country – Washington state.

“A friend dropped him off at the airport, and Jim was very quiet,” Lemois said. “If you know Jim- that’s not like him. I commend him for pushing through this with work.”

A call to James was not immediately returned.

Carduff is not afraid for his own safety, adding that the shooting appears to be an isolated incident.

“I’m not worried about going out. I don’t think the boy is going to do anything like that again,” Carduff said.

However, Carduff nor Lemois can predict when Sean will return to his grandparents' home, and what his reaction will be.

“I want my son to be with his grandparents, but now my son doesn’t want to go. He shouldn’t feel that way,” Lemois said. “The 16-year-old robbed my son.”

“We’ll go from here, and see what happens. I feel comfortable -- so far,” Carduff said. “I hope we learn that red flags occur in young minds, and we address them.”

“He made a poor decision. Let’s figure out why he made a poor decision,” Carduff said. “Any other thing I hope comes out of this is that his peers don’t think that’s cool.”

“I have to commend the Wareham Police Department. They did a really good job,” Carduff said.

For Carduff, he was a bit upset with himself that he did not give God enough praise for the protection Sean was given.

“There’s always a reason for something like this,” Carduff said. “I wish I had said more about that during the interviews. I was not thinking of that at the time, and I should have been.”

“I hope everyone takes something good out this,” Carduff said.