70-year-old woman shot on her front porch during solar eclipse, Indiana cops say

Less than a half hour before Hendricks County, Indiana, reached totality during the Monday, April 8, solar eclipse, a woman felt a poke on her arm.

The 70-year-old woman, who was sitting on the front porch of her North Salem home, initially believed a bird had “struck her with its beak,” the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office said.

But she soon realized she had been shot, authorities said. She was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Authorities said the woman was shot at 2:42 p.m. April 8. The eclipse began in Hendricks County at about 1:49 p.m., and the county reached totality for three minutes beginning at 3:06 p.m.

Detectives learned the shooting originated from a residence about 4,400 feet away, according to the news release. A 25-year-old man had “fired a rifle into the backstop while target shooting,” the sheriff’s office said.

Criminal charges are not expected to be filed, authorities said.

North Salem is about a 35-mile drive northwest from Indianapolis.

This story was originally published April 10, 2024 at 10:23 AM with the headline "70-year-old woman shot on her front porch during solar eclipse, Indiana cops say."