EVANSVILLE, Ind. — An Evansville man will spend more than 16 years in federal prison after shooting his ex-girlfriend in 2023, according to a press release from the Indiana Department of Justice.
According to court documents, in Aug. 2023 the Evansville Police Department went out to a home after reports about gunshots in the area.
Officers were later advised that a woman was shot by her ex-boyfriend, identified as 51-year-old Ronald McCallister.
When officers got to the house they found the woman in the backyard near a tent with a gunshot wound to her left ankle.
The woman told officers McCallister was sending her suicidal messaged through Facebook Messenger.
After getting the messages, she drove to the house where McCallister had been living in a tent in the backyard. Documents say she went there with the intention of offering him support.
However, their conversation quickly escalated into an argument. McCallister then pulled out a gun and placed it next to the woman's head.
The release states McCallister fired one round next to her face and then pointed the gun at her foot and fired.
He then went inside the house and left the woman on the ground in the backyard.
During a search of the home, officers found McCallister hiding in a bedroom. They also found his gun, a loaded 9mm handgun.
McCallister has a lengthy criminal record, according to the release.
His previous convictions include felony convictions for domestic battery, robbery resulting in bodily injury, battery by means of a deadly weapon and armed robbery.
These previous felony convictions prohibit McCallister from ever legally possessing a firearm ever again.
“We have prioritized federal prosecution of armed domestic abusers because of the extreme danger they pose to those in their homes and the public at large,” United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Zachary A. Myers said. “The victim in this case will be protected from her abuser for many years, because of the excellent work of EPD, the ATF, and our federal prosecutor. This sentence should serve as a warning anyone who is involved in domestic violence and illegally armed: get rid of the guns or risk a long term in federal prison.”
McCallister was sentenced to 200 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon.
