(KNZA)--Guilty. That’s the plea entered by a Wathena teenager accused of shooting a 20-year-old man at an underage drinking party in January near Agency, Missouri.

17-year-old William Dowlen pleaded guilty Wednesday in a Buchanan County courtroom to a felony charge of unlawful use of a weapon.

The St. Joseph News Press reports Dowlen told the judge the shooting was an accident.

He said he had been beaten up at the party, and when he went back to his car, a friend handed him a handgun.

Dowlen told the judge he intended to fire the weapon into the ground to scare off his attackers.  But he says the gun recoiled, and the second shot hit the victim in the leg.

Prosecutors says the victim had to have multiple surgeries and still has another one to undergo.

Dowlen is scheduled to be sentenced September 15th.