A 12-year-old boy has been accidentally shot in the face while playing with a rifle on a rural property in south-west NSW.
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The boy was with a group of people on the property at Thuddungra, north-west of Young, when the .22 rifle was fired at about 7pm on Wednesday.
"Police have been told the boy and a friend were in possession of a .22 rifle which discharged and a round ricocheted into the face of the boy," a NSW Police statement said.
He was immediately driven from the property before being met by an ambulance and taken to Young Hospital. He was in a stable condition with non-life threatening injuries, police said.
He has since been airlifted to the Children's Hospital at Westmead for specialist care.
Officers from Cootamundra Local Area Command have established a crime scene at the property however police said they "do not believe there are any suspicious circumstances involved".
In NSW, .22s shotguns and air rifles are Category A firearms, the least restrictive category for licensing.
