Authorities investigate wounding of Marine in rural Andover

ANDOVER (AP) -- Authorities were investigating the wounding of an Andover man, on leave from the U.S. Marines, who said he was shot after stopping to help a stranded motorist in a remote road near his home.

Adam D. Welter, 20, told police the driver of a disabled pickup truck shot him early Monday in the left shoulder, said Capt. Bob Aldrich, of the Anoka County Sheriff's Office.

Welter was being treated at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids on Monday night. Aldrich said his wound wasn't life-threatening.

"I was shocked when I saw a gun and I jumped to the side and he hit me in the shoulder," Welter told KARE-TV.

Aldrich said investigators returned to the open, remote area where Welter said he was shot, but found no blood, shell casings or other evidence.

He said he didn't know whether Welter, who was to return to active duty Monday, was armed. Welter did not report anything stolen, Aldrich said. There was no apparent motive, he said.

Welter told deputies that he had gone to visit a friend after midnight Sunday, but found no lights on at his house and was headed home when he saw a black, rusted pickup truck with its hood up.

He stopped and the driver said he needed a jump. So Welter drove less than a mile to his parents' home, grabbed jumper cables and returned. He pulled up facing the pickup. The pickup's hood had been lowered, he said.

He walked between the two vehicles and the man got out of the pickup without saying anything and shot him. Welter said he managed to drive home and called police about 12:40 a.m.

The appearance of the wound indicated that the shot was fired from close range and from a small-caliber handgun, Aldrich said. Welter didn't have a good description of the man.