It may sound like a whale of a tale, but an 8-year-old San Rafael girl who was struck by an arrow outside a life-size whale structure outside the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley is telling the truth.

Nadine Hairston-Millington was hit by an arrow while playing the popular structure on Tuesday during a school field trip. The arrow lodged in her leg and required hospital doctors to remove the 20-inch cross bow.

"It hurt, it hurt a lot so I started crying a little," the third grader told NBC Bay Area on Wednesday. "I stopped when my teacher came over."

Rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, Nadine said she sang Taylor Swift songs to stay calm: "My teacher put Taylor Swift songs on and we both sang the words together since she is my favorite singer."

It's not quite clear how the arrow struck the girl, or who did it.

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 Police Capt. Stephen  Roderick told Bay City News earlier this week that investigators are trying to reconstruct the arrow's  trajectory, a difficult task when "an arrow can travel 500 to 1,000 yards."

Police said it did not appear that the shooting was connected to any science or math experiments at the center.

UC Berkeley Police

Arrow that hit 8-year-old girl on Tuesday.

Nadine's mom, Alicia Hairston, said that the entire ordeal has been bizarre and scary, but in the end, her daughter is now home and it could have been worse.

 "I feel lucky it hit where it hit, didn't hit an artery, muscle, a vein. It could have been much worse," she said. Hairston says doctors are expecting a complete recovery.

Nadine doesn't seem bothered by the incident at all. In fact, she thinks by catching the arrow, she may have done something kind for the statue: "I saved a whale," she said proudly.  

Related: Calif. girl on school field trip struck by arrow

An 8-year-old  girl on a school field trip to the University of California science museum in Berkeley was hit by an arrow while she played on a whale sculpture.

UC Berkeley Police

Arrow that hit 8-year-old girl on Tuesday.

The girl, who was hit in the leg Tuesday, had to have the arrow surgically removed. She spent the night in the hospital and was released on Wednesday afternoon, according to NBCBayArea.com.

Who fired the arrow, which came from a crossbow, remains a mystery. Police were tracing the projectile's trajectory to determine where it came from, but have not located a suspect. It remained unclear if the arrow shooting was an accident or a malicious act.

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The whale sculpture is located in a plaza outside the Lawrence Hall of Science. Other students in the area were taken inside after the girl was hit.

UC Berkeley does have an archery group, but its members practice on the other side of the campus.

Field trip chaperone Geoff Vassallo said the girl cried as she waited for an ambulance, but “was a pretty brave little girl.”

A 53-year-old Michigan man was found dead Tuesday morning with an arrow in his chest.

The man, Chris Martin Allen, was found lying in the corner of a parking lot in Howell, about 30 miles east of Lansing.  The arrow was protruding from the left of his chest, and a crossbow was found next to his body, police said.

The police report said investigators considered Allen's death a homicide, but Police Chief George Basar told NBC station WILX of Lansing that suicide couldn't be ruled out. 

"It's physically possible," Basar said. "We have discussed that, and it's physically possible."

Allen lived near Wellston in northern Michigan but had been staying with relatives in a Howell-area apartment since the holidays, NBC station WDIV of Detroit reported.

The incident shook up neighbors in the apartment complex.

"I never thought I would have seen a crime scene here," resident Larry Varga told WILX. "It's a fantastic area and a nice place to live. Nothing ever happens around here."

"Police patrol this area very often" added Varga. "I have never seen any problems here except very tiny things like people having a party."

Police are puzzled, too, by the first possible homicide in the 39,000-person city since 2002, according to Michigan State Police records. 

"I've been in the business for 37 years, and this is the first one that I've had," said Basar, who became chief in 2006.

NBC stations WILX of Lansing, Mich., and WDIV of Detroit contrinuted to this report by M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com.

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