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Racine County deputy accused in accidental shooting of coworker, child
A Racine County Sheriff’s deputy is being charged with four felonies for accidentally shooting a coworker and that coworker's 7-year-old son while out hunting.
RACINE COUNTY, Wis. - A Racine County Sheriff’s deputy is being charged with four felonies for accidentally shooting a coworker and that coworker's 7-year-old son while out hunting.
Shooting investigation
What we know:
Prosecutors say the defendant, James Lehman, let his 3-year-old daughter pull the trigger of the 12-gauge shotgun aimed at what he thought was a turkey head 39 yards away. This happened at Honey Creek Wildlife Area back in April, but the case is still ongoing. Lehman and his daughter were out for a youth turkey hunt weekend.
Through the hunting mentorship program, Wisconsin state law says that there is no age requirement for hunting as long as that person stays within an arm's reach of a licensed hunter.
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Lehman got his hunter safety certificate through basic training with the U.S. Armed Forces.
Dig deeper:
According to the criminal complaint, Lehman admitted he was "not a very experienced turkey hunter" and it was one of the first times he hunted independently.
The case was turned over to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources the day of the incident.
"I won’t say that I guess it’s uncommon to have someone of that age," Renee Thok, a representative for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, said. "(They should) use their best judgment when they’re doing that and to consider the mentee’s abilities, their strengths, their weaknesses."
After the shot, the 7-year-old was bleeding from the head and on June 5, he went into surgery. Doctors couldn’t remove pellets from his skull, brain and near his spinal cord.
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Pellets hit the coworker in the back, lower torso, left hand, forearm and upper arm, but he was released from the hospital that night. He still had significant swelling and numbness in his left arm during a follow-up 12 days later.
According to the complaint, he had told Lehman in the past "not to hunt on his hunting spots."
Walworth County D.A. assists
What's next:
Racine County Sheriff’s Office declined to give any more updates on the father and son’s health.
The Walworth County District Attorney, Zeke Wiedenfeld, is helping the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources with this case. This is because the Racine District Attorney handed it off as both parties involved in the incident are from the Racine County Sheriff’s Office.
Wiedenfeld did not respond for comment.
Lehman is still on administrative leave and due in court for the first time on Sept. 10.
Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Ben Hanson and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from Racine County open records, the Racine County Sheriff’s Office, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Racine County District Attorney Patricia Hanson.