A 40-year-old Brownstown man has been charged with two felonies in connection with a March 4 incident in which both he and his 5-year-old son were shot in the leg at their home.
Avis Lynn Wingler Jr. was booked into the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown on Tuesday on Level 3 felony charges of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury and neglect of a dependent causing serious bodily injury.
According to a news release from the Indiana State Police Versailles Post, during the weeklong investigation led by Detective Nate Adams, police learned Wingler was supervising his son shortly before midnight on the evening of March 4 and was handling a loaded handgun in the living room while his son was nearby.
The firearm discharged, causing one round to go through Wingler’s leg and into the leg of his son, said Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, public information officer for the Versailles Post.
After the shooting at the home in the 1000 block of West Oak Street, surveillance footage showed Wingler had altered the scene rather than providing medical care for his son, Wheeles said.
A relative Wingler had contacted came to the home and provided medical aid to the child before taking him and Wingler to Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, police said. The child was later transferred to Riley Children’s Health Indiana University Health in Indianapolis and then released after further treatment of his injuries.
Wingler was arrested after police served a search warrant at the home and then booked into the jail at 4:38 p.m. He is being held without bond.
Officers with the Brownstown and Seymour police departments and Jackson County Sheriff’s Department and the Indiana Department of Child Services assisted with the investigation.
A Level 3 felony is punishable by three to 16 years in prison, upon conviction, with an advisory sentence of nine years.