Father of shot child will not be charged

The Henry County sheriff’s deputy whose four-year-old daughter was shot by her twin brother with the father’s service weapon will not be charged.The following is a news release on the investigation into the shooting from Capt. Tony Ranieri of the Spalding Co. S.O. The incident occurred on Teamon Road in Spalding County. The child is recovering.According to Sheriff Stewart, after a thorough reconstruction of the Crime Scene and interviews with all parties involved with the shooting incident at 1791 Teamon Road last Friday, no charges will be filed in the case.Investigators met with the District Attorney and provided the facts of the investigation and based on the elements of proof in order to make an arrest in the case, no violation of the Georgia State Law had been violated.According to Captain Tony Ranieri the reconstruction of the crime scene, the father Michael Clark, who is employed with the Henry County Police Department had come home from work late the night before. When Clark arrived home he placed his firearm on a top shelve that is connected to a desk. The next morning the family went to the grocery store, upon arriving back home, Clark and his wife were unloading the groceries from the car.The little boy during this time had entered the living room where he moved a small stool into an adjacent room, stood on the stool, climbed onto the desk and then climbed onto another shelve, reached over the top shelve to retrieve a Mickey Mouse hat, instead the boy finds the gun, removed the gun and took that into the bedroom. Soon after that the single shot was fired. The boy was on the bed and the girl was on the floor at the time of the shooting. The shot struck the girl in the hip area and exited her leg, where the bullet was found on the floor.’If one would stand in front of the desk and shelves, you could not see the firearm on top of the shelf’ according to Ranieri. This is not a normal place that the father keeps his firearm’s, they are usually locked in a lock box.There is no evidence to show that the father was reckless or negligent in this case and therefore will not be prosecuted according to Sheriff Stewart.