BLOOMINGTON — A late-night mix of alcohol and firearms maintenance resulted in the arrest of a Bloomington man on Tuesday after his loaded handgun discharged through an apartment wall, striking a neighbor in her living room.
Kaleb Ford, 21, was arrested by the Bloomington Police Department and has been charged in Monroe County court with criminal recklessness, a Level 5 felony.
According to court documents, the incident occurred late Tuesday evening at an apartment complex located just off Discovery Parkway.
Inside her home, a neighbor was peacefully crocheting in her living room when she was suddenly struck in the arm by a projectile. The woman panicked but quickly realized the bullet had lost most of its velocity after traveling through the wall. While the impact caused her pain, it fortunately did not break her skin.
Upon inspecting her apartment, she discovered a fresh hole in her kitchen wall and found a 9mm bullet lying on the floor right next to her chair. She immediately contacted 911 dispatch. While on the phone with emergency operators, the woman reported hearing a soft knock at her door. Looking through the peephole, she saw a man later identified as Ford, but she chose not to answer.
When Bloomington police officers arrived at the scene, they began scouting the exterior of the building. Looking through a screen glass door into Ford’s apartment, an officer witnessed Ford actively trying to cover up the incident by taping a license plate over the freshly minted bullet hole in his dining room wall.
Officers instructed Ford to exit the apartment, and he complied. Police noted that Ford had a small laceration underneath his eye, which investigators believe was caused by flying debris when the bullet punched through the drywall.
Upon questioning, Ford admitted that he had been drinking Jim Beam whiskey while attempting to disassemble his handgun. He explained to officers that while he was trying to remove the slide of the weapon, he pulled the trigger, accidentally firing a round through the wall.
A subsequent breathalyzer test revealed Ford’s blood alcohol content (BAC) was 0.09%, which sits just above the legal driving limit of 0.08%.
While Ford did attempt to knock on his neighbor’s door to check on her, police emphasized that he never called 911 or attempted to report the shooting to authorities. Instead, he actively tried to hide the evidence of the discharge.
In addition to taping the license plate over the wall damage, Ford had tossed the spent shell casing into the trash and separated the firearm components, placing the handgun in one room and its magazine in another. Ford told officers he hid the items because he was scared and panicking.
Court records indicate that Ford has since bonded out of jail following his initial booking. His initial court hearing has been scheduled for June 18.
A Level 5 felony conviction carries a maximum penalty of up to six years in state prison.
Those facing criminal charges are considered innocent until proven guilty through a fair and due legal process. Accusations alone do not imply guilt; the judicial system will evaluate the presented evidence to reach a verdict.
