CCW holder charged in shooting that left man paralyzed

A 23-year-old Milwaukee man who told police he had a concealed-carry license has been charged in a shooting that left another man paralyzed.

Dominique D. Sanders faces one count of second-degree reckless injury after he repeatedly shot a man who had tried to steal his idling car, according to a criminal complaint.

The shooting occurred outside a restaurant at N. 21st St. and W. Hopkins St. on Jan. 20. Police were called to the area because of a ShotSpotter alert and arrived to find a wounded man who was unconscious and Sanders who was holding a gun. Officers provided CPR until the Milwaukee Fire Department paramedics took over life-saving efforts and drove the man to a hospital.

The 27-year-old man suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was paralyzed from the waist down, court records show.

According to a criminal complaint:

Sanders told police he parked his car outside a restaurant and left it running while he went inside to order food. While his order was being prepared, he went back outside and saw a man had entered his car and was about to drive away.

Sanders said he ran to the driver’s side window, pulled out his gun and fired numerous shots as the car started to pull forward. The car then slowed, hit a snowbank and stopped. Sanders ran up to it and pulled the wounded man out of the car.

Sanders told police the man was unarmed and he did not think he was in danger of being attacked. Sanders also said he was not in the path of the moving car. Surveillance video from the restaurant supported his account.

Sanders told police he is a concealed-carry permit holder and was trying to prevent his car from being stolen. Investigators noted Wisconsin's permit application includes the following language: "It is not reasonable to intentionally use force intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm for the sole purpose of defense of one’s property."

Sanders was charged Wednesday and is due in court next Thursday.