A Northern Territory woman who was gardening with her kids has been accidentally shot with a crossbow, allegedly by a neighbour.
The 45-year-old woman was shot with the arrow in the left ankle on Saturday evening while in the garden with her two sons and husband in the Darwin suburb
of Bakewell.
"She suddenly felt excruciating pain in her left ankle," police said in a statement.
"Hearing her screams, the victim's husband rushed to assist her and discovered a red crossbow bolt embedded in her ankle."
She was taken to hospital and treated for an ankle injury.
The neighbour turned himself into police on Saturday and was "remorseful for his actions".
"(He) did not intend for the incident to occur," police said.
The alleged offender, 41, told police he was playing with his crossbow in his yard and had been aiming at a stack of old car batteries when it all went horribly wrong.
One of the arrows clipped the side of the batteries, skimmed over the dirt and travelled through the garden, a chain metal fence, a four-metre laneway in-between the two residences, another chain mesh fence and directly into the victim's ankle, police said.
The defendant was released from police custody and is to be summoned in relation to the incident.
It is not clear at this stage what he has been charged with.
- AAP
