A former corrections officer in Minnesota is facing an attempted murder charge for allegedly gunning down a teenager after the latter asked him to stop trespassing on her property while riding his lawn mower.

Chad Pickering, 40, and a former Minnesota corrections officer at Northwestern Minnesota Juvenile Center in Bemidji, is facing one count of pre-meditated first degree attempted murder and is now locked in Beltrami County Jail. Bail was set at US$300,000.

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Police records showed that on Monday, the 17-year old victim whose name is being withheld due to her age, asked Pickering to stop riding his lawn mower through her yard. The girl later reported that Pickering had been trespassing on her yard while riding his lawn mower and carrying a gun in the past weeks.

Police said that at 10 pm Monday, the teenager stepped outside her house to check on her dog and saw someone hiding behind a pine tree. When she started walking toward the tree to check, she was shot in her chest, right thigh and left ankle.

The teen, down and bloodied, managed to drag herself into her house and call 911. Police said the teenager was able to identify Pickering as her assailant. An ambulance arrived minutes after and took the teen to a nearby hospital in Duluth.

Doctors said it could take months before the girl can walk again. Medical records showed that one bullet missed her heart by two inches.

Upon questioning by the police, Pickering initially denied involvement in the shooting. But the police obtained a search warrant for  his home and upon searching, found a gun which bullet casings matched the casings found on the crime scene.

He then allegedly confessed to the shooting saying he was angry at the teenager for confronting him in riding his lawn mower through her property.

He also reportedly confessed that he went to the teen's property and waited for her to go outside so he could shoot her.

"I waited, and I waited, and I waited," he allegedly admitted as shown by the criminal complaint.

He said he waited for twenty minutes until the teen stepped outside. He also confessed that he shot the teen from 15-20 yards away and that when she fell down, she shot her again.

Pickering faces 20 years imprisonment if found guilty, police said.

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