EDWARDSVILLE - A New Year’s Day argument between two individuals led to one firing a loaded muzzle loader pistol with powder at another man in Edwardsville.
Clayton T. Cullen was charged with committing with one count of Aggravated Battery (Class 3) during an incident on Jan. 1, 2019. The charge said: “The defendant, in committing a battery, in violation of 720 ILCS 5/12-3, knowingly and without legal justification and by use of a deadly weapon, a black powder handgun, knowingly caused bodily harm to Sidney Fonville, in that said defendant caused the firearm to discharge, thereby causing injury to Fonville’s face and eye.”
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Edwardsville Police Chief Jay Keeven said powder, not a projectile, came out of the pistol during the situation, and that it is under investigation by authorities and the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office.
“The individuals knew each other and the one individual was burned by the flash of the black powder,” Keeven said. “The injuries were not life-threatening injuries. We did arrest and charge on individual. I don’t remember any other black powder cases in my career. It was a unique situation.”
Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons said these kind of cases could become more common know that purchasing black powder weapons is becoming more popular.
“This is a weird case,” Gibbons said.
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