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Two Syracuse men were arrested after another man was allegedly hit with a bullet in the leg.
Ethan Bryan Woodson, 26, of 502 W. Brooklyn St., Syracuse, is charged with criminal recklessness, a level 6 felony; and failure to obtain consent to use private land, a class C misdemeanor. He was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 4:24 p.m. Tuesday on a $1,000 preliminary bond.
Michael Andrew Beer, 26, of 5360 E. Creekside Trail, Syracuse, is charged with criminal recklessness, a level 6 felony; and failure to obtain consent to use private land, a class C misdemeanor. He was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 4:36 p.m. Tuesday on a $10,000 preliminary bond.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on Nov. 25 Kosciusko County Dispatch advised law enforcement a male hunter was hit by a bullet while deer hunting near Syracuse. An Indiana conservation officer responded to the scene.
The officer spoke with the man, who was leaned against a tree and complained of leg pain. The man said he was deer hunting on his privately owned land. He was sitting in an elevated hunting platform approximately 25 feet from the ground. The man heard gunfire and several projectiles hitting the trees in his vicinity.
The man said he exited his hunting platform, walked about 8 yards when he heard more gunshots and he was hit in the left leg by projectile. After yelling he was shot, the man walked to the boundary of his property and saw Beer and Woodson.
The man identified holes in his garments related to the projectile when talking to the officer.
The officer spoke with Beer, who said he and Woodson shot behind the house at a metal drum from the back porch and driveway for about a hour prior to when the man approached them. Beer said he shot a Beretta 9mm and Woodson said he shot a Taurus .22. Woodson provided one unspent cartridge for the .22 caliber firearm and it matched the projectile located in the man’s pant leg.
The officer noted Beer and Woodson shot at a target approximately 39 yards from the back porch without an adequate back stop and the projectile struck the man about 210 yards away, according to court documents.
