A 21-year-old Indiana County man was arraigned Friday on multiple criminal charges after police say he accidentally fired a round from a 9 mm handgun which struck and seriously injured his 4-month-0ld son.
James M. Williamson Sr., 21, of White Township was charged with aggravated assault, discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure and endangering the welfare of a child by state police in connection with the Feb. 1 shooting inside an apartment on College Lodge Road, near Indiana Borough.
He was arraigned before District Judge Guy Haberl and ordered held in the county jail after failing to post $25,000 bond.
State troopers said in court documents that Williamson was inside the apartment and seated on a couch in his living room when he fired a single shot from his handgun as he was in the process of removing it from a holster on his hip.
“With the use of trajectory poles, evidence at the scene led investigators to believe the round traveled through a couch cushion. Upon exiting the cushion, the round, while traveling at a downward angle, struck the child, who was seated in a child safety seat on the floor near the couch,” said state police Trooper Clifford Greenfield.
The round landed in a box on a shelf in the living room.
Greenfield reported the infant is still being treated at UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh and is expected to survive.
“As stated previously, we do not have any reason to believe that this was an intentional discharge of a firearm. However, upon consultation with the Indiana County District Attorney’s office, we do believe this act constituted a reckless discharge of a firearm,” Greenfield said.
A preliminary hearing is 1 p.m. March 26 before Haberl.
