Man whose bullet grazed student gets probation

A Mattituck man whose random gunshot from his home struck and injured a student at a nearby school last year was sentenced Friday to 5 years' probation.

Kevin Ehlinger, 29, pleaded guilty in June to reckless endangerment and discharging a firearm in a restricted area in the Oct. 9, 2009, incident. Southold police said then that Amanda Olsen, then 18, was grazed by a bullet from Ehlinger's 22-cal. rifle as she sat in class at Mattituck High School.

Ehlinger also pleaded guilty in June to misdemeanor cocaine possession and possession of marijuana, a violation.

State Supreme Court Justice William Condon sentenced Ehlinger on Friday to 5 years' probation, with orders that he receive psychiatric treatment.

Olsen suffered post-traumatic stress syndrome after the shooting, her mother, Darlene, said in court Friday. But she asked Condon not to send Ehlinger to jail.

"We forgive you, Kevin," Darlene Olsen said. "The only way we would regret our feelings is if Kevin did not learn from his experience."