A 15-year-old boy is recovering today after being shot in the head.

The stunned youngster staggered along the pavement after being shot in Boltro Road, Haywards Heath, yesterday. He managed to summon help and was taken to the town's Princess Royal Hospital.

He was badly shocked and suffered a slight injury, but police said the plastic pellet from a ball bearing gun struck him just above his right eye and came within about half an inch of causing a serious injury. Doctors do not expect the youngster, who is from the Haywards Heath area, to suffer any permanent damage and he was allowed home after treatment.

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The incident happened just after 9am as people were still arriving for work in nearby offices. Police launched a large search operation for the attacker after initial reports of a shooting outside education centre offices in Boltro Road, near the old police station.

Police are still trying to confirm what motive, if any, there was for the attack. Today they appealed for anyone who saw the attack to call them.

A police spokesman said this morning that a 16-year-old boy from Mid Sussex was being interviewed at Crawley Police Station in connection with the incident.

He had been arrested near Burgess Hill Station soon after the incident. It is thought he may have caught a train from Haywards Heath Station, which is close to Boltro Road.

Sussex Police believe the shooting was deliberate rather than an accident. A spokesman said: "Fortunately it is not a life threatening injury. The incident is being investigated as an assault. The inquiries are still on-going."

Last year police warned of the danger of using ball bearing pistols, known as BB guns, after an incident in Cuckfield Road, Hurstpierpoint. The Sussex Police special operations unit was called in after reports of a man waving a gun.

Three men in their twenties using each other as target practice with ball bearing guns were given warnings, but were released without arrest. Police said at the time they were astonished at the behaviour of the group in public.

In the wake of the Hurstpierpoint incident, Sussex Police called a press conference to emphasise the dangers of using ball bearing guns carelessly.

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