Shooting early Sunday leaves Shiner man clinging to life in San Antonio hospital

A Shiner man remained in critical condition midday Monday at a San Antonio hospital following an early Sunday shooting, while the Flatonia man who officials say allegedly sent him there was behind bars at the Lavaca County Jail, held on $100,000 bail on the single charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

For now, at least, Sheriff Micah Harmon said.

“What we’ve been able to ascertain thus far is that the victim was inside his residence, where he was—entertaining a young lady friend—a lady friend who happened to be married to another man,” Sheriff Harmon said on Monday.

That man, it turned out, Michael Joseph McKim, 44, of Flatonia, was busy trying to locate his betrothed, the sheriff said. To assist in that effort, he’d brought his daughter along to help him track her whereabouts using her cellphone locater.

When they spotted her vehicle, Harmon says McKim walked up to it, removed a 9 mm handgun from inside it, and then commenced pounding on the front door and demanding entry. The altercation escalated quickly then, Harmon said, and it ended with a shot of a gun.

Deputies arrived to find the homeowner and victim unconscious in the yard with a single gunshot wound to the head, Harmon said, with the alleged gunman seated nearby, awaiting their arrival.

McKim, who worked as postmaster at the Flatonia Post office, was detained shortly thereafter without incident. Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Travis Hill later set his bail.

Harmon said the victim, still not named by local authorities when this story was written, barely clung to life as of Monday, which prevented doctors from performing the lifesaving surgery he needed. Should his condition improve, doctors will move forward with the surgery as planned.

Should it deteriorate, however, McKim could face even stiffer charges. Assisting in the sheriff’s department investigation are the Texas Rangers and the Lavaca County Attorney’s office.