Woman killed while trying to catch dog

WADESVILLE, Ind. – A 29-year-old woman was fatally shot Thursday while trying to coax her dog from a neighbor’s yard and was hit by a bullet that ricocheted off the ground and under a plastic fence before striking her shoulder.\nThe bullet from a .357-caliber Magnum pierced both the lungs and heart of Nicole Stroud, Vanderburgh County Coroner Don Erk said. The Evansville woman was leaning down, trying to get her shih tzu dog out of a neighbor’s yard through a hole in the bottom of a fence when she was shot.\nThe neighbor accused of firing the gun, Melinda Lindauer, 41, was arrested on preliminary charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide. She was still being held in Posey County Jail on Saturday.\nPosey County Prosecutor Jodi Uebelhack said she believes Lindauer fired from a back window of her house at a dog that was loose from a neighboring house, where Stroud was visiting her grandmother.\nThe Lindauers live directly behind Stroud’s grandmother. Wadesville is about 15 miles northwest of Evansville.\nThe prosecutor said Lindauer might not have seen Stroud and probably didn’t intend to kill her, but criminal charges were still warranted. Indiana law states that a person can fire a gun at a dog only if it is threatening an individual or livestock.\n“After we got all the statements, it was pretty clear this was a criminal act,” Uebelhack said. “It’s never an accident to pick up a gun and shoot it.”\nUebelhack said a statement given to police by Lindauer’s husband, Lonnie Lindauer, indicated there was an ongoing dispute between the neighbors over the dog. She said he told authorities the dog had previously dug up a cat that was buried in the Lindauer’s backyard.\nMelinda Lindauer’s attorney, Nick Hermann, said he could not comment on the specifics of the case. But he said the Lindauers are distraught over what happened.\n“Their thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the lady who died in this incident,” he said.