Brooklyn Center man charged in apparent accidental shooting

A Brooklyn Center man was charged Monday in a fatal accidental shooting last week that killed a woman in a car.

Julius M. Smith, 24, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with one count of second-degree manslaughter.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office has not identified the woman who was killed.

According to the criminal complaint: Police were called to the intersection of 49th Avenue N. and Girard Avenue N. in Brooklyn Center on Nov. 11 where they found a pickup truck with a bullet hole in the windshield. A wounded woman on the ground was being treated by paramedics.

The woman later died from a gunshot wound to the back of her head.

Witnesses said Smith was sitting behind the victim in the pickup truck. Two people who were in the truck told police that Smith shot the woman and "generally described the shooting as an accident," the complaint said.

Smith allegedly said the pickup's occupants were robbed by two men with a gun, and that he swatted at the weapon, causing it to discharge.

The complaint said surveillance footage at the scene corroborated information from the truck's other occupants.

Smith is in custody.

Chao Xiong