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Bond lowered for Garner man accused of shooting 14-year-old son 'while playing around'

A Garner man's bond was lowered during his first court appearance on Monday on child abuse charges after police say he accidentally shot his 14-year-old son while playing.

Posted Updated

By
Deborah Strange
, WRAL digital journalist
GARNER, N.C. — A Garner man's bond was lowered during his first court appearance on Monday on child abuse charges after police say he accidentally shot his 14-year-old son while playing.

James William Johnson, 45, shot his son in the chest around 12:30 a.m. Saturday.

Johnson pointed a handgun at his son and fired it "while playing around," court records state.

"The best way to describe this is there was some horseplay. The gun has a laser sight on it and he was pointing it at the young people," Johnson's attorney said.

The boy was taken to WakeMed with serious injuries.

The shooting occurred on Powell Drive.

Johnson was charged with child abuse. He bond was originally set at $100,000, but was lowered to $50,000 on Monday.

"I can only imagine what this gentleman is going through having had an accident that injured his child," his attorney said.

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