By Eric Litke
Sheboygan Press staff
A Sheboygan woman allegedly shot her 8-year-old
daughter in the leg with a BB gun to win a $1 bet with her boyfriend, authorities said Friday.
The woman, Angelique R. Vandeburg, 28, now faces up to
three years in prison on a felony count of intentional child abuse issued Friday. The alleged incident occurred April 26 or 27.
Her daughter, a local elementary school student, told police the shot initially hurt so much she was unable to walk, according to a criminal complaint. She
said her mother and the mother's boyfriend had been drinking heavily before the boyfriend offered Vandeburg $1 and handed her the gun, the complaint said.
Vandeberg, of 2704 S. 17th St., made an initial court appearance Friday and was released on a $5,000 signature bond.
According to a criminal complaint:
Police began looking into the incident Wednesday after a school counselor reported it to police. The girl was shot three or four days earlier, but a circular
bruise with a white-colored point in the middle remained visible on her thigh, the counselor said.
The girl said the shooting occurred in her mother's bedroom. The girl estimated her mother had 10 to 12 beers.
The boyfriend bet her mother $1 she wouldn't shoot the child, after which the mother took the gun and shot the girl, who was wearing three pairs of pants.
The bullet bounced off her leg and struck her 7-year-old brother, but he was not injured.
The boyfriend then grabbed the gun, ran out of the house and drove away. Vandeburg told her daughter not to say anything, advising that the incident was a
"family thing" and the mother would go to jail if the girl told.
The girl said she soon developed a stomachache and was in too much pain to walk, so she lay down and went to sleep.
Vandeburg, in an interview with a police detective, said the girl was lying to get her in trouble. She said the injury occurred three weeks ago when the girl
fell while riding her bike and was hit in the leg by the handlebar.
