Charges filed in early morning shooting

A Mounds, Ill., man suspected of shooting a Southeast Missouri State University student at a convenience store on North Sprigg Street was charged Thursday morning with first degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.

David L. McElrath, 20, was at Rhodes 101, 1126 N. Sprigg St., about 1 a.m. when he became involved in a fight, according to a sworn affidavit filed along with the complaint. He told Mike Wilson of the Cape Girardeau Police Department that he had a 9 mm Ruger handgun concealed in his waistband, pulled it and fired three shots.

One shot struck William T. Harvey in the lower torso.

Harvey is a student at Southeast, according to the university's Internet site. Harvey is the sixth shooting victim in Cape Girardeau in 2006; one person died in a Jan. 25 incident involving a botched robbery of a drug dealer, while four other people have been injured in incidents that took place in February, May and September.