DEPUTIES: 20-year-old charged after shooting armed man with shotgun pellets

A 20-year-old man is charged after deputies say he shot an armed man with shotgun pellets.

The Carteret County Sheriff's Office has arrested and charged Alex Becker with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury with intent to kill.

Deputies say he shot 43-year-old Jeffrey Joseph multiple times in the stomach. This comes after Joseph was armed with a handgun during an argument with Becker's mom on Sandspur Lane, off of Whitehouse Fork Road.

Joseph reportedly shot one round in the air before firing more shots in Becker's direction. It was then that deputies say Becker grabbed his shotgun and started firing.

Joseph was transported to Carteret County Health Care and then Vidant Medical Center in Greenville.

Becker is being held in the Carteret County Jail under a $100,000 bond. Deputies say he just posted a $50,000 bond on Tuesday after being charged last Sunday with burglary, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon and two additional assault charges with different victims.

The investigation is ongoing.