A Tulsa man has been arrested after police say he fired a shotgun out of the window of his home, striking the inside of his neighbor's house and narrowly missing his neighbor's pregnant daughter and a baby girl.

When police received reports that someone had fired a shotgun shell into a home near 39th West Avenue and West 8th Street in Tulsa, they responded quickly and arrived on the scene within minutes. As soon as they arrived, they heard another gunshot and surrounded the home from which the gun was apparently fired.

As they did so, a man and a woman holding a young child exited the home. The man told police that he thought he heard someone trying to break into his home, so he fired twice from a west-facing window, which is where he thought a would-be intruder was standing.

Instead, each of his two gunshots entered a neighbor's home. The neighbor told police that one round nearly struck her pregnant daughter and a young child who was lying with her. 

Police arrested Albert Clarence Jackson, 35, on a complaint of recklessly handling a firearm. Tulsa police described him as "agitated and yelling" when he was placed under arrest early Monday morning. He was booked into the Tulsa County Jail and quickly released on $1,000 bond.

Reckless conduct with a firearm is prohibited under the Oklahoma Firearms Act of 1971. According to 21 O.S. 1289.11, "It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in reckless conduct while having in his or her possession any shotgun, rifle or pistol, such actions consisting of creating a situation of unreasonable risk and probability of death or great bodily harm to another, and demonstrating a conscious disregard for the safety of another person. Any person convicted of violating the provisions of this section shall be punished as provided in Section 1289.15 of this title."

Penalties for reckless handling of a firearm in Oklahoma include 10 days to 6 months in jail, a fine of $50 to $500, revocation of a handgun license, and an administrative fine of $1,000.

In 2006, Jackson was charged with lewd molestation for allegedly sexually abusing a minor. The defendant pleaded no contest to an amended charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor (misdemeanor) and given a one-year suspended sentence with no formal supervision, and he was ordered to have no contact with the victim in the case.

Image credit: Mad House Photography