HARTFORD CITY, IN — A Dunkirk man has been formally charged with attempted murder in a June 12 shooting in the city of Montpelier.
Vincent A. Wesley, 28, is accused of repeatedly shooting a 46-year-old man outside the victim’s East Brice Street home.
Attempted murder is a Level 1 felony carrying up to 40 years in prison.
Wesley was also charged with aggravated battery, a Level 3 felony with a maximum 16-year sentence, and criminal recklessness, a Level 5 felony carrying up to six years in prison.
The Dunkirk man has received a Feb. 9 trial date in Blackford Circuit Court.
According to court documents, a Montpelier police officer sent to the scene of the shooting found the victim on the ground with three “gunshot entrance wounds” in his abdomen, and three exit wounds in his back.
The victim — who said he had also been shot in the left hand — was flown by medical helicopter to a hospital in Fort Wayne.
Witnesses said Wesley was seen waiting outside the Montpelier man’s home for as long as three hours on the afternoon of the shooting. When the man returned home from work, the Dunkirk man allegedly shot him.
One witness said the Dunkirk man had continued firing at the victim after he fell to the ground.
An affidavit indicated the shooting victim and Wesley have relatives in common. A family member told police Wesley had made allegations of child abuse in years past and “hated” the man he is accused of shooting.
Contacted a day after the shooting, the Montpelier man told police he had left the Fort Wayne hospital because he was unhappy with the care he received there, and he intended to be examined at an Indianapolis medical facility.
Wesley was arrested the day of the shooting after leading police on a chase that led from Blackford County into Grant and Delaware counties. He was taken into custody near Gaston.
He continued to be held without bond Wednesday in the Blackford County Jail.
Douglas Walker is a news reporter for The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Dunkirk man charged with attempted murder in Montpelier shooting
Reporting by Douglas Walker, Muncie Star Press / Muncie Star Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Douglas Walker, Muncie Star Press | USA TODAY Network
