Charges: Plymouth man shot girlfriend in head after birthday party
A 26-year-old Plymouth man is accused of shooting his girlfriend in the head after a birthday party at his home, and then attempting to flee to Wisconsin.
Austin Robert LeClaire's 23-year-old girlfriend remains in critical condition as of Friday, with "permanent, serious, life-threatening injuries" following the shooting on Nov. 25. according to an update from the Plymouth Police Department.
On the evening of the shooting, police were called to LeClaire's home on the 14300 block of 40th Place North, where the victim was found in the garage with blood pooled around her.
As they approached, officers were flagged down by a neighbor who had LeClaire on the phone. LeClaire told police he was at work when the shooting happened and he'd be home "in 20 minutes."
After over an hour passed, police found LeClaire's location via cell phone data, watching him travel east into Wisconsin, before a Clark County Sheriff's deputy conducted a traffic stop and arrested him.
Although police didn't recover a gun, they found numerous ammunition boxes, loose rounds and three loaded magazines inside LeClaire's vehicle. LeClaire admitted to dissembling the gun and throwing the pieces outside his car window as he was driving on Hwy 29 in Wisconsin.
A neighbor told police LeClaire frequently argued with his girlfriend, and said he had used a gun to make threats towards her and others in the past.
An attendee at the birthday party said LeClaire called him 45 minutes after he had left the party at LeClaire's home. LeClaire told him he was home when his "gun went off and hit" his girlfriend, and that he didn't know what to do. The man told LeClaire to call police.
According to the complaint, LeClaire showed "little concern" for his girlfriend during a three-hour interview with law enforcement. Cell phone records revealed that LeClaire had texted others, saying the victim had him "f****** irate," adding he was on his "last nerve."
LeClaire is being held at the Hennepin County Jail. He faces an attempted second-degree murder charge in the case. If convicted, LeClaire could serve up to 20 years in prison.
