FROM STAFF REPORTS

SMITHWICK — A man in his 40s suffered a gunshot wound to his hand after a property owner allegedly shot at him when the man was apparently leaving the property.

Now, Burnet County deputies are trying to piece together what happened and why the gunshot victim was on the property.

Burnet County Chief Deputy Joey Canady said the alleged trespasser apparently did not have a reason to be on the property in the 200 block of Hickory Creek Road about 10 p.m. Sept. 22, but investigators aren’t elaborating on why he might have been there.

Deputies responded to a report to a suspicious person on the property. But before they arrived, the landowner had fired two warning shots in the individual’s direction, Canady said.

The individual was in his car and driving away, Canady said, when the property owner, a man in his 50s, fired one more shot from a handgun. The bullet went through the vehicle and struck the driver in the hand, the chief deputy said.

The shooting victim drove himself to the CVS drug store in Lago Vista, where he then called 9-1-1. He was transported to St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center, where he was treated and released.

Canady said no charges have been filed against either person at this time. He added that when the investigation is completed, deputies will turn it over to the Burnet County district attorney’s office.

editor@thepicayune.com