Effingham man indicted after lying about shooting himself

EFFINGHAM, Ill. (AP) - A 21-year-old Effingham man whose story to authorities about being shot in the leg triggered a manhunt for a gunman before he admitted he'd shot himself has been charged with felony counts, including obstruction of justice for allegedly lying to a sheriff's detective.

The Effingham Daily News ( http://bit.ly/1EvXgNQ) reports that on Wednesday the Effingham County grand jury indicted David A. Koester on felony counts. The others are disorderly conduct and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Koester initially said he'd been shot in the leg while running with his dog in the Little Wabash River bottoms on Dec. 19. But after a search that lasted about a week and included a state police airplane and investigation in which no evidence that someone else had shot Koester, investigators returned to interview him again. This time, according to authorities, Koester admitted he had lied about being shot by someone else, explaining that he'd done so because he did not have a Firearm Owners Identification card.

At the time Koester also admitted to the newspaper that he'd made up the story.

"It was 100 percent a freak accident," he told the paper. On Thursday, he could not be immediately reached for comment.

Assistant State's Attorney Scott Ealy said that the "charges are appropriate given the results of the investigation into the shooting and the alarm it caused the general public."

___

Information from: Effingham Daily News, http://www.effinghamdailynews.com