An area man has died in what’s been ruled an accidental shooting.
Officers from the Columbus Police Department were called to the 300 block of Cleveland Street about a person who had been shot at about 10 a.m. Monday, said Lt. Matt Harris, department spokesman. When the officers arrived, they located Michael A. Sporleder, 69, unresponsive in the living room.
A family member inside the home said Sporleder was attempting to clean a 9 mm handgun when it discharged, striking him, Harris said.
Bartholomew County Coroner Larry Fisher, who had attended school with the victim in North Vernon, said he pronounced Sporleder dead at the scene from an accidental gunshot wound to the chest. Sporleder was cleaning guns in the home with his son when the accidental shooting happened, Fisher said.
