Police: argument over dog sparked father’s shooting

BROWNSTOWN, Ind. – A 20-year-old southern Indiana man faces murder charges for the shooting death of his father during a confrontation over the younger man’s abuse of his mother’s dog.

A Jackson County judge on Wednesday ordered John A. Shoultz III to be held without bail on charges of murder and unlawful firearm possession by a serious violent felon.

Authorities say Shoultz fatally shot his 48-year-old father, John Shoultz Jr., Saturday night at their home in Crothersville.

Police said the shooting happened after the elder Shoultz entered his son’s bedroom to confront him about wrapping duct tape around the legs of his mother’s chihuahua.

The younger Shoultz said he fired a warning shot from a handgun into the ceiling, then fired three more shots in self defense when his father didn’t stop advancing toward him carrying the dog and a razor, according to a police report.

An autopsy found that Shoultz was shot twice in the chest and once each in the lower left abdomen and right hand.