The police warrant for a Georgetown man arrested on a manslaughter charge Tuesday reveals he worked as a gunsmith and “accidentally” shot and killed his own mother.
Twenty-six-year-old Jordan C. Walls was demonstrating repairs he made to a 20-gauge Franchi shotgun for his mother when it went off, according to court documents obtained by Delaware Online/The News Journal.
Police who responded to a home on Deep Branch Road in Georgetown charged Walls with manslaughter, or recklessly causing the death of another person, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Walls told police he had been working at a gun shop and repairing guns for 15 years, according to court documents.
Delaware State Police responded to the Georgetown home just after 7 p.m. Tuesday after Walls called 911 and advised he had “accidentally” shot his mother, according to the warrant.
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The 54-year-old woman, whom police have not yet identified, was found inside the residence with a shotgun wound to the abdomen, court documents say. She was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Walls was “pacing frantically” in the home, and a 20-gauge shotgun was located nearby, according to the warrant.
Police determined Walls had been “working on” the shotgun, which belonged to a friend, in a shed on an adjacent property, court documents say. The gun had been “having an unknown mechanical issue,” which Walls had supposedly been able to fix, according to court documents, and he brought the gun inside to show his mother.
Walls “placed the barrel of the weapon on the armrest of the chair she was sitting in,” the warrant says, and “racked the weapon” several times. The gun went off and a shot hit her in the lower abdomen, according to court documents.
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During a police interview, Walls described the “testing procedure” that he uses after repairing a weapon, according to court documents. He told police that he loads the weapon with three rounds and tests all three rounds, but must have fired only two in this case, court documents say.
Walls was jailed on $120,000 cash bond. He must relinquish all firearms and may not enter any property that contains, sells or otherwise maintains firearms as conditions of bail.
As of Thursday, it had not been posted.
A preliminary hearing for his case is scheduled for May 26.
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