Business Owner Faces Charges After Teens Shot

ANDERSON, Ind. -- A business owner could face felony charges after he shot two teen boys Friday, police said.

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Slideshow: Man Shoots Two Teens

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Blue Grass Farms owner Brent Schalk said that the teens were on his property after hours and that his property has been plagued by vandals, RTV6's Julie Pursley reported.

Police said he could be charged with battery with a deadly weapon and criminal recklessness. If convicted, Schalk could face jail time.

Schalk said he fired his shotgun into the dark in an attempt to scare the trespassers, not hurt them.

The boys were sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

"Somebody ran around the corner, running right at me and I just said, 'Hey, stop,' and he kept coming," Schalk said. "I fired right into the wall."

Schalk admitted that he had fired his shotgun, containing bird shot, into the air three times in an effort to scare trespassers he encountered on his farm Friday night.

"He shouldn't have shot us," Kameron Fortune said.

Fortune told RTV6 that he had been on the property that night and on a previous night with the intention of driving golf carts that are on the property.

Schalk said vandals had done more than $10,000 worth of damage to his carts, trucks and other equipment over the last few weeks. He had filed four police reports.

Schalk said he also had to replace sprinklers after vandals drove equipment through the area knocking them down.

Police said five children were involved in Friday night's incident. Some of them live in a mobile home park directly across the street from Schalk's business, Pursley reported.

"They're kids. They're teenagers. They're going to get into mischief," said Lisa Fortune, Kameron's mom. "I'm sure that scared them from going over there again. I think he was a little excessive."

Anderson police Detective Terry Sollars said Schalk faces charges because he used excessive force.

"The problem is, you're still talking about unarmed juveniles who were shot in the back as they were turning to leave. His threat was over," Sollars said.

Schalk thinks he should not have been arrested.

"I was just trying to look after my property and keep it from being torn up until I could get some security in here to do it for us," Schalk said.

The boys were treated and released from the hospital. No juvenile charges were filed.

Schalk said he has hired night security for his business and that they arrived just a few minutes after Friday's incident.