Lee County woman accidentally struck by gunshot from son-in-law

LEESBURG — A woman was hospitalized Sunday after she was accidentally shot by her son-in-law who was firing at an armadillo, officials with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.

Maj. Bill Smith said Larry McElory was about 100 yards from the residence of his in-laws, Roy Johnson and Carol Johnson, at 380 Gosa Road in Leesburg around 10 p.m. Sunday when he attempted to shoot the armadillo with a 9mm pistol. The bullet ricocheted off the animal, went through a fence and then through the back door of the in-laws’ residence.

There, it went through the back of a chair in which Carol Johnson was sitting, striking her in the back as she was watching TV, Smith said.

Roy Johnson was outside with McElory at the time. Smith said Carol Johnson was talking and walking in her own power at the time of the shooting.

“(The family) has had trouble with armadillos,” Smith said. “The a 9mm had a high muzzle velocity. Thankfully, it slowed down before it hit her.”

Smith said there was nothing from the investigation to lead officers to believe it was anything more than an accident.

A spokeswoman from Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital said Carol Johnson was discharged from the Albany hospital on Monday.