Squirrel is commonly hunted with a .22 rifle. It's a very small bullet that could easily kill a person, especially with a round to the back of the head.

Squirrels are very frequently hunted with a .22. It works great for squirrels, but (like a pellet rifle) can be lethal to a human - especially if you shoot them in the head.

And there's legitimate reasons to shoot squirrels. I used to do it for an exotic animal preserve because their population would explode and they'd eat everything in site.

As a side-note, you can get air-powered pellet-rifles powerful enough to take down a deer.

https://ammo.com/articles/gun-death-statistics-by-caliber

are they still good eating when blasted with a round that can outright kill a person?

I haven't had squirrel dumplings in ages...