JASONVILLE – A Bloomfield teen is facing a charge of attempted murder after he fired a gun at a vehicle fleeing the scene of a fight.
The Greene County Prosecutor has charged 18-year-old Ayvin Wittgren with attempted murder, criminal recklessness, and pointing a firearm.
On Tuesday, May 16, at 5:22 p.m. Jasonville Police officers were alerted to shots fired in the 100 block of South Washington Street after the department received numerous 911 calls. Numerous witnesses told police there were multiple people fighting and then gunfire as vehicles left the scene.
Wittgren initially told police he had fired the gun in self-defense, but upon further questioning, Wittgren admitted to shooting the gun at the car because he was ‘full of emotion’ and believed the fleeing individuals had “got one over on him and his friends. So I popped a couple of rounds off at them.”
Police learned there was a fight between two groups of teens and both groups were armed.
Wittgren told police the situation began when he learned a friend wanted to beat up an acquaintance they believed had battered a woman. Wittgren had an acquaintance who possessed a gun.
Wittgren told police he had gone to Dugger-Union Jr/Sr High School and stole a teal and black Bersa 9mm handgun from that acquaintance’s vehicle that was parked in the school parking lot.
After stealing the weapon, Wittgren said he wanted “to stash it” in Jasonville, but the acquaintance knew where he hung out and came to find him.
Wittgren had been at a juvenile friend’s house along with three other friends on South Washington Street when the acquaintance, along with two other people, showed up to confront Wittgren about the theft of the gun.
During the fight one of Wittgren’s friends was reportedly hit in the head with a miniature baseball bat, causing him to bleed.
When the fight began, the juvenile who lived at the property went inside to wake up his father and while doing so he said he heard gunshots.
Wittgren finally admitted he lied about shooting the gun in self-defense. He said when the acquaintance and two other individuals had gotten into their vehicle to leave. He noticed his friend was bleeding and ” “lost my [expletive], I lost all my [expletive].”
Wittgren told police he brandished the firearm just to get the others to leave, but when he saw his friend bleeding he “realized they had got one over on them, so I popped a couple of rounds off at them.”
Police found seven bullet holes in the driver’s side of the vehicle.
“Two bullet holes in the front fender, two in the front driver’s door, and three in the back driver’s side door,” according to the probable cause affidavit.
At least one bullet penetrated a door and traveled through the passenger compartment. Police say luckily no one was wounded in the shooting.
Police found seven shell casings between the sidewalk and South Washington Street within a small area.
“The approximate distance from Wittgren’s position as he was firing the handgun at the vehicle was 12-15 feet,” according to the probable cause affidavit.
