89-year-old woman shot in leg inside N.J. pizza shop
A Hunterdon County man has been charged after his gun went off at a Morris County pizza shop and the bullet struck an 89-year-old woman, authorities said.
According to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, William H. Schmieding, 70, of Whitehouse Station, was charged with one count of second-degree aggravated assault, one count of fourth-degree aggravated assault and weapons offenses that include violating the requirements for safe firearm carrying and being prohibited from carrying a firearm.
The incident occurred Monday at a pizza shop on Route 206 in the Flanders section of Mount Olive, where police responded to reports of gunshots and a person injured, authorities said.
Officers found an 89-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to the leg and transported her to an area hospital where she was in stable condition, authorities said.
According to charging documents, authorities discovered that Schmieding was eating at the restaurant with two friends, removed the gun from its holster and “racked” the gun to clean it, which resulted in the gun firing a single shot.
The bullet fired toward the floor, ricocheted off the chair and struck the woman, according to charging documents. The bullet lodged near an artery in the woman’s leg and was not removed immediately.
Schmieding apologized to the woman and later admitted to officers that it was his gun that went off inside the restaurant, according to charging documents.
According to charging documents, authorities found the gun in Schmieding’s car; He hid it there after the gun went off and before the police arrived.
According to authorities, Schmieding has a permit to carry a handgun and is being held in the Morris County Jail until his arraignment.
Schmieding’s attorney was not listed in court records Tuesday.
Matthew Enuco
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