Former SC officer charged after allegedly shooting a child in the head with a TASER

A former South Carolina police officer has been charged after he allegedly shot a child in the head with a TASER stun gun, police say.

Carl Brooks Wilhelm, 36, of the Springdale Police Department in Lexington County, used the stun gun on a child, whose age is not specified, after the child allegedly interrupted a conversation Wilhelm was having with another officer, according to a news release from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, or SLED.

After the April 21 incident, Springdale Chief of Police Andrew “Bear” Richbourg asked for SLED to investigate the incident “to ensure transparency and a non-(biased) investigation,” he said in a statement. Wilhelm is no longer employed by the department, according to the statement.

Wilhelm and the unnamed child came into contact after the child’s mother dropped him off so Wilhelm could take him to school, according to the arrest warrant. Two other Springdale Police Department officers witnessed the incident and provided statements to police, the release said.

The metal probe from the X26 TASER struck the child in the left side of the head, and had to be removed surgically at the hospital, according to the release. The child told investigators Wilhelm had previously pointed the TASER at him to scare him, according to the release.

Wilhelm was booked at Lexington County Detention Center and charged with unlawful neglect of a child and misconduct in office, according to the release.

This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 10:18 AM.