Police: Boyfriend allegedly shot woman in the leg

Police arrested a 44-year-old man Sunday night after he was accused of shooting his girlfriend in the thigh.

Investigators said the shooting happened in the 700 block of North 11th Avenue just before 8:30 p.m. According to the police report, responding officers found a 56-year-old woman identified as Darlene Weddle with a gunshot wound to her right thigh. She reportedly identified her boyfriend, Joe F. Hayes, as the shooter.

A witness told police said he saw the couple outside of a home, then heard a gunshot and saw Weddle walk to the front of the home before falling to the ground. The witness told police that after the shooting, Hayes left the area in a truck. He was stopped by police a short time later.

However, according the the arrest affidavit filed in the case, both Hayes and Weddle told police that the shooting happened while they were together in the truck.

Weddle was taken to Deaconess Hospital for treatment. There was no public medical condition update available for Weddle on Monday morning, but police said her injuries weren't life-threatening.

Hayes faces a preliminary charge of domestic battery with a deadly weapon and is lodged in the Vanderburgh County Jail.

According to the affidavit, Hayes had kicked Weddle out of his home the night before the shooting and did not want her inside his truck on Sunday, investigators wrote.