One injured in Lombard shooting; two charged

Two people have been charged in connection with an early Monday morning shooting that injured a 26-year-old Lombard man.

Lombard police went to a home on the 400 block of South Lewis Avenue shortly after midnight. The wounded man wasn't there when they arrived, police said. Eventually, police found the wounded man walking in the area with 28-year-old April L. Sheelk of Lombard.

The victim was taken to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove where he was treated for a gunshot wound to the stomach and released, police said.

Meanwhile, police began interviewing Sheelk and the homeowner, Nicholas W. Brown, 28, to determine what happened to the victim. Investigators learned that all three had been drinking at Brown's house Sunday and at some point late in the evening Brown brought out a .22-caliber handgun to show the others, police said. When Sheelk took possession of the weapon, both Brown and she said it accidentally discharged and a bullet struck the victim, police said.

Sheelk was charged with misdemeanor counts of possession of a firearm, reckless conduct and battery. Brown faces a felony charge of possession of a firearm because his firearm owner's identification card had been revoked. He posted an $800 bond and was released from the DuPage County jail in Wheaton on Monday afternoon, authorities said.

Brown pleaded guilty in 2004 to unlawful discharge of a firearm after being arrested in February of that year in Lombard, according to court records.