A Cedar Lake man was arrested Sunday after firing a gun while confining his girlfriend and her child in a room, according to police.

Cedar Lake Deputy police Chief Carl Brittingham said in a release Monday that officers responded at around 10:06 p.m. Saturday to a disturbance in the 7600 block of West 135th Place. Dispatch told them a man at the residence was armed and the victim and her 6-year-old were locked in the bedroom, Brittingham said.

As they approached the house, the officers heard a single gunshot come from inside, Brittingham said. When one of them looked in the window, they saw the man — William England IV, 31 — sitting with a handgun in his hand, he said.

Another officer forced entry into the house, at which point they took him into custody, Brittingham said. They then found the victim and her child visibly shaken but unharmed as well as the area where the shot was fired, he said.

The victim told police that England had previously threatened to shoot her if anyone was at the house before he came home, Brittingham said.

England was taken to the Lake County Jail, and prosecutors have charged him with intimidation, felony criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, and felony neglect of a dependent — endangering, which are all level 6 felonies, Brittingham said.

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.