Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks says he'll let a grand jury decide on charges following a suspected break-in attempt and shooting early Wednesday on Ridgeland Road.
Karl T. Hodo, 44, of 146 Ridgeland Road, a convicted felon, told investigators he shot at a man outside his house because he thought the man was trying to burglarize his pickup truck, which was parked in the front, Banks said.
The man, Jim Courtney Powell, 19, of 122 Ridgeland Road, fled, although he was wounded in the ankle. Deputies later found him outside his house.
He was in fair condition Thursday at the University Medical Center in Jackson. Banks said officers had not yet interviewed Powell.
There have been no arrests.
Banks wants to charge Hodo with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Under state law, a conviction on that charge includes a maximum penalty of a $5,000 fine and three years in prison.
Banks recalls arresting Hodo in 1989 on a drug possession charge. The sheriff says Hodo eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years probation.
Hodo bought the handgun at the Oddity Shop in Greenwood on Oct. 11, said Banks.
The sheriff believes Hodo fired the pistol several times.
Hodo told authorities he bought the pistol because he suspected someone had taken money from the truck, once when it was locked, the sheriff said.
Hodo claims he was awakened Wednesday morning by dogs barking. He looked outdoors, saw a man, and in fact, the man looked into the same window out of which Hodo was peering.
Then, the man went toward the truck. After that, Hodo fired off two or three shots and one hit the man, Powell, in the ankle, Banks said.
Hodo claims the man carried a blunt knife - described on reports as a butter knife - on a long stick, the sheriff said. Deputies found the knife but not the stick.
