Reported accidental shooting results in a felony battery charge
Hot Springs police have charged a local man with felony battery after a firearm he was reportedly cleaning Tuesday night discharged a round that struck a 19-year-old man in the head.
Hayden Allen Dukes, 20, of 854 Carpenter Dam Road, was taken into custody at the Hot Springs Police Department around 8:45 p.m. and charged with second-degree battery, punishable by up to six years in prison.
Dukes, who lists no prior criminal history, was later released on a $25,000 bond and is set to appear March 25 in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday, police were dispatched to 854 Carpenter Dam regarding a shooting.
Officers located Braydon Anderson, 19, on a sofa with a gunshot wound to his head. He was transported by LifeNet to CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs where his condition was later listed as “unstable and critical” and he remained in the intensive care unit as of shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday.
Dukes, the listed resident, told officers he was cleaning his gun and it went off and struck Anderson. He was taken to the police department where he was interviewed by Detective Phillip Vanderburg after being read his rights.
Dukes stated Anderson had arrived at his house and the two
were sitting in the living room “breaking down” their guns.
Dukes said the second time he broke down his gun, a .40-caliber pistol, he pulled the trigger “to release the slide” and it discharged a round, which struck Anderson.
When asked for clarification on “breaking down” his gun, Dukes reportedly said he was “field stripping” the firearm.