Man charged with shooting kids who threw snowballs at car

MILWAUKEE – A Milwaukee man is charged with firing shots at children who threw snowballs at his car, injuring two of them.

William Carson, 24, was charged Sunday with two counts of first-degree reckless injury and five counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, all felonies.

Prosecutors allege Carson fired nine shots at seven children in early January. A 13-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl were injured, suffering gunshot wounds to the thigh and forearm, while a bullet also grazed a third child, according to the criminal complaint.

Carson is jailed with bond set at $35,000, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. He is due back in court Feb. 25. His public defender did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press for comment Tuesday.

According to the complaint, seven children were playing in the snow Jan. 4 on Milwaukee’s northwest side, with several of them throwing snowballs at passing vehicles. When one vehicle was struck, the driver exited with a handgun and began firing at them as they ran away.

Police found nine spent casings from a 9 mm gun along with two fired brass bullets.

Eight days later, on Jan. 12, Carson was arrested by Oak Creek police after a car chase. Officers found a gun in the glove compartment, test-fired it and found it was highly probable the casings recovered from the shooting scene came from the gun.

Carson purchased the gun 11 days before the Jan. 4 shooting, authorities said. He told police that he is the only one who has ever had access to the gun since he purchased it.