Alvin Gentry, 39, of the 900 block of Daw Road, is recovering in LSU Hospital in Shreveport of a through-and-through gunshot wound to his back. The injury is non-life threatening, DeSoto sheriff’s Cpl. Dusty Herring said. 

Gentry’s 74-year-old father-in-law, Alvis McKinney, who lives next door to Gentry, is in the DeSoto Detention Center charged with aggravated battery, DWI-third offense and an assortment of traffic violations. 

McKinney told investigators in a statement given after his arrest Wednesday night that he did not realize he had shot Gentry, Herring said. The shooting occurred as Gentry and his wife, who is McKinney’s daughter, were arguing outside of their home in the Carmel community. 

“McKinney went out there and told (Gentry) to leave. He popped off a round” as a warning shot, Herring said. More words were exchanged between the three then McKinney pointed his .22-caliber pistol in Gentry’s direction and fired another shot. 

“That’s when the victim went down and that’s when (McKinney) realized he shot him,” Herring said. 

Gentry was flown by Life Air to the Shreveport hospital for treatment. McKinney left the scene in a pickup truck and was arrested less than an hour later by a state trooper who located his vehicle on U.S. Highway 84 at the intersection of state Highway 522. McKinney’s impairment was evident to the trooper. 

McKinney gave officers the gun he used in the shooting, as well as a confession, Herring said. 

Still, Gentry was reluctant to have charges pressed against his father-in-law, the detective added. 

It was Gentry’s decision not to have McKinney prosecuted for shooting him the first time. In that incident, which was more than five years ago, McKinney shot Gentry in both legs below the knee.

Alvis McKinney, 74, is accused of shooting his son-in-law, Alvin Gentry, 39, in the back Wednesday night. (Special to The Times)