Hunter accidentally shot by partner

A Potlatch man was injured early Monday after being shot by his hunting partner, a 31-year-old man from Coeur d’Alene, reports the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office.

Nicholas Christensen, 20, was listed in stable condition Tuesday afternoon at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

“As this is an ongoing case and no charges have been filed, the name of the shooter is being withheld as the investigation progresses,” said a news release from the Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies and emergency services personnel responded around 7:20 a.m. to a wooded area off Lamb and Bell Canyon roads near Harrison to a call about a hunting incident.

The caller said he accidentally shot his hunting partner, Christensen, while the two of them were elk hunting.

He said they were together when Christensen shot a bull elk. The pair separated to go look for the elk, however the older male saw another elk and shot at it, but hit his partner in the thickly wooded area.

Both men were wearing camouflage hunting gear at the time.

Christensen sustained a gunshot wound to his arm by a high-powered hunting rifle and was transported via Life Flight helicopter to Kootenai Health for treatment. He was later transferred to Harborview in Seattle.