Teen shot by grandfather is improving - WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |

ROCHESTER, Minnesota (WXOW) - The Rochester pastor who shot and wounded his granddaughter, mistaking her for an intruder, says she's making progress in her recovery.

The 16-year-old girl is hospitalized with a gunshot wound to her upper torso. Her grandfather, Stanley Wilkinson, tells the Star Tribune her condition is improving.

The 61-year-old Wilkinson is pastor at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Rochester.

Late Monday night he heard a noise outside his house, grabbed his pistol and went to investigate while his wife called 911. He thought his granddaughter was asleep upstairs. Wilkinson fired two rounds when he saw a figure at the patio door. That figure turned out to be his granddaughter, who was hit once.

The pastor says he hopes his mistake can be used as a warning to others who might find themselves in a similar situation to act cautiously.