MUNCIE, Ind. – A two-day dispute between a pair of a longtime acquaintances resulted in a man’s shooting Sunday afternoon outside a southside home.

Authorities were called to the 1800 block of East 20th Street at 1 p.m.

A man – with a gunshot wound in the upper leg – was taken from the scene by ambulance to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital.

The man believed to have fired the gunshot was taken to City Hall for an interview, but he was later released.

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The case remains under investigation, but Muncie police Capt. Joe Todd said authorities believe the gunman might have fired in self-defense.

According to Todd, the man accused of firing the shot lives at the East 20th Street address, and was confronted there Saturday by an acquaintance who accused him of burglarizing his home.

That allegation was denied, and while participants on both sides of Saturday’s dispute had firearms, Todd said, it appeared to have been resolved peacefully.

Early Sunday afternoon, however, the Muncie resident making burglary allegations returned to East 20th Street with three other men, Todd said.

This time, the target of the accusation was allegedly battered by two of the men. A few minutes later, three of the men were approaching him when the East 20th Street resident retrieved a handgun from his porch and fired two shots.

A bullet struck one of those men in the upper thigh, Todd said, narrowly missing an artery.

Todd said the gunshot victim was not the man making the burglary allegations.

Prosecutors will review the city police investigation and determine what charges, if any, will be filed as a result of Sunday’s events.

Names of the shooting victim and gunman were not released. Todd said both were Muncie residents in their 20s.

A woman talking with police at the scene in the immediate wake of the shooting called the situation “a hot mess.”

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.