Former Springdale police officer accused of tasing a child in the head

Carl Wilhelm
Courtesy: Lexington County Sheriff’s Department

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO)– A former officer with the Springdale Police Department is accused of shooting a child in the head with a taser. Investigators with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division say, on April 21, 36-year-old Carl Wilhelm was supposed to drive the child to school. Officials say the child interrupted Wilhelm’s conversation with another officer, when Wilhelm pointed and fired the taser. One of the taser’s probes struck the child in the side of the head, and he had to be taken to the hospital to have it surgically removed.

In a forensic interview, investigators say the child told them that Wilhelm had previously pointed his taser and him in order to scare him.

A spokesperson for the Springdale Police Department says Wilhelm is no longer employed by the department.