Man stuck needles into Nerf darts and shot his young stepkids, Wisconsin police say

These Nerf darts were anything but harmless.

Brian L. Alexander, 33, of Portage, Wisconsin, stuck needles into the ends of the darts, then shot his stepkids with them, reported a law enforcement press release on Facebook.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office wrote that Alexander, who faces charges of physical abuse of a child, had been firing the modified darts at children ages 6 to 9 years old.

Lt. Roger Brandner of the sheriff’s office described the needles as thin sewing-type needles, reported The Portage Daily Register.

“Through the years, we have seen a number of different abuses in homes that would just make you cringe and really touches at the heartstrings, and this is one of those,” Brandner said, according to the publication.

“It didn’t inflict serious injuries, which we’re grateful for, but the idea of, really, torturing a kid, and subjecting them to being shot with a sharp needle doesn’t make any sense to me and I don’t know why anyone would do that, and that’s obviously why we took it seriously and made the arrest,” he added, according to The Portage Daily Register.

The sheriff’s office opened an investigation Sept. 3 after being informed of the abuse, which had apparently been ongoing “for some time,” according to the Facebook post.

Columbia County Health and Human Services workers also took part in the investigation, sheriff’s officials wrote on Facebook.

Alexander was arrested Wednesday and scheduled to appear in court Monday, reported WISC.

Investigators recovered the Nerf gun and needle-equipped darts, the station reported.

This story was originally published September 10, 2018 at 2:58 PM with the headline "Man stuck needles into Nerf darts and shot his young stepkids, Wisconsin police say."