Avon shooting may have happened after child picked up loaded gun while adults distracted

Update: This article was updated Sept. 30, 2022 with more information about the arrest.

A 25-year-old man was arrested in connection to the Wednesday shooting of an Avon woman and a child, according to police.

Officers were called to a home in the 7300 block of Glensford Drive about 12:45 p.m. Wednesday where they found a 4-year-old girl and a woman shot inside the residence, the Avon Police Department said. Both were taken to a hospital for treatment and were listed in stable condition.

"Officers have secured the scene and our agency is not searching for any additional parties involved. We do not have an active threat or suspect in the area at this time," the department said in a Facebook post.

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Brandon Clark was preliminarily charged Wednesday with criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon. The woman, believed to be his mother, and his 4-year-old niece were injured during the shooting.

"This is a charge that we commonly see when people are mishandling firearms or a firearm is left near a child," said Brian Nugent, Avon Police spokesperson.

The child was shot in her left leg and the woman was shot in the chest, according to the probable cause affidavit for Clark's arrest. Both are expected to recover from their injuries.

Avon man allegedly told police there was 'no point' in having an unloaded firearm. Moments later, his niece and mother were injured by a loaded weapon.

When officers entered the home, they found three handguns on the kitchen counter. One was in its holster — the other two were not, the affidavit said.

Clark said his sister came to the house because she was thinking about buying a firearm. He wanted to show her different guns that he had and told police "all of the guns were loaded with one round chambered" because he said, "in my eyes, there is no point in having (an) unloaded pistol," according to the affidavit.

While Clark was speaking to his sister, he told police he became distracted. His four-year-old niece during that time managed to pick up one of the guns and it fired, according to the affidavit.

Clark told investigators the child began to cry and he saw blood on her leg. He looked over at his mother, who was sitting in a recliner. She had been shot in the chest. Clark made a makeshift tourniquet for his niece's leg while his sister called 911, according to the affidavit.

"We are not known by any standard to be a community with a lot of gun violence," Nugent said, "but we are not immune."

Avon Police also worked with the school district's police and the Department of Child Services to ensure the home is safe, Nugent said. Two other children live in the home but were in school at the time of the shooting, he said.

Officers served a search warrant on the home the day of the shooting and recovered multiple firearms.

Clark's trial is tentatively scheduled for January 2023.

Mallory Tye, 37, lives down the street and was outside with her daughter at about 12:40 p.m. waiting for the bus to come when she heard sirens flood the area and saw a rush of police cars. Tye said she's never seen anything like this in Avon before, adding there are multiple families raising kids in the neighborhood.

“It’s quiet here,” Tye said.

Avon is about 15 miles west of downtown Indianapolis and has a population just above 18,000 people, according to census data.

This article will update.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Avon shooting: Child may have picked up loaded gun