An 18-year-old man is accused of accidentally shooting his cousin in the face Tuesday east of downtown.

Quantdre Mersier was preliminarily charged Wednesday with felony criminal recklessness.

Medics and Fort Wayne police were sent to an apartment complex in the 900 block of East Washington Boulevard about 2:20 p.m. They found Mersier’s cousin, Timothy Cotton, in the parking lot, suffering from a gunshot wound to the face, authorities said.

Bleeding profusely from his mouth and jaw, Cotton was taken to Parkview Regional Medical Center in serious condition, court documents said.

Cotton told police that another man shot him in the parking lot and then ran north. But officers discovered blood in the hallway of his apartment and on the door.

When police questioned Mersier, he gave a version different than his cousin’s. He told investigators he and Cotton were sitting in the living room of the apartment, when he pointed a .38-caliber revolver at his cousin, thinking it was unloaded, and accidentally pulled the trigger, court documents said.

Cotton told Mersier he would not tell on him, court documents stated.

Mersier told police “he knew it was not safe to point guns at people and that his friends have told him this over and over.” He said he had previously pointed guns at people six to seven times without shooting anyone, court documents said.

“I could have killed him,” Mersier told police. He also acknowledged that he had smoked synthetic marijuana earlier in the day, court documents stated.

Mersier, of the 3700 block of Harrison Street, was in custody Wednesday at the Allen County Lockup. His bail was set at $10,000.