No jail for minister who shot granddaughter

ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) -- A Rochester minister has been ordered to do community service work for shooting his granddaughter.

An Olmsted County District Court judge stayed a 91-day jail sentence for Stanley Wilkinson, pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Rochester. Under a plea agreement, Wilkinson earlier pleaded guilty to intentional discharge of a firearm that endangers safety. Wilkinson must complete 100 hours of community work.

Wilkinson told police he grabbed his pistol after hearing a noise outside his house last December and fired two rounds after seeing what he thought was someone trying to open the deck door. It turned out to be his 16-year-old granddaughter, who was struck once in the neck.

The Rochester Post-Bulletin says the teen had been living with her grandparents and told police she left the house without telling them.

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Information from: Post-Bulletin

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