Stepfather charged after boy hospitalized with gunshot wound

A stepfather has been charged months after a child was hospitalized with a gunshot wound.

Chance Alan McDonald, 29, of Mankato, is accused of leaving an unsecured weapon in his car, leading to the boy accidentally shooting himself in the calf.

According to a criminal complaint, McDonald had transferred his belongings, including a firearm wrapped in a plastic bag, from his truck to a new vehicle he had purchased just an hour before the incident happened.

McDonald went home to show the new car to his wife.  He told police he was just climbing into the passenger seat and his wife was in the driver’s seat when they heard the gun go off.

The complaint says the couple looked in the back and saw McDonald’s seven-year-old stepson holding the plastic bag.  The child was rushed to an emergency room.

The boy had a gunshot wound to his left calf with a clear exit wound, according to the complaint.

McDonald said he had recently moved from a state where he could carry a firearm without a permit.

Officers found the firearm, bullet fragments, and a fired bullet in the car, according to the complaint.  The boy’s shattered leg brace was also found in the vehicle.

Medical records indicated the child didn’t suffer any fractures or dislocations.

Police say McDonald didn’t have a permit to carry the gun.

McDonald was charged in Blue Earth County Court with negligent storage of a loaded firearm accessible to a child, and carrying a pistol without a permit, both gross misdemeanors.