Woman charged with manslaughter after early morning shooting, victim identified

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Lubbock Police were called to a shooting at Somerset Square Apartments near 11th and Bangor, which is near Mackenzie Middle School, just after 1 a.m. Wednesday.

When police arrived, they found one person dead.

Officers with the Lubbock Police Desk say a woman called police at 1:04 a.m. and told them she accidentally shot her boyfriend.

Lubbock Police Officers found located 26-year-old Nathaniel Bloedel in an upstairs bedroom. The initial investigation revealed Bloedel received a fatal gunshot wound during a domestic dispute with 25-year-old Kaitlin Ehrhart.

She has been booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center and charged with manslaughter and is being held on a $100,000 bond.

Lubbock Metro Crimes Unit is investigating.

According to Ehrhart’s arrest warrant, she called 911 and reported she had accidentally shot her boyfriend. When officers arrived, they found Ehrhart standing outside. Ehrhart’s boyfriend, Nathaniel Bloedel, was found in an upstairs bedroom with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head.

Ehrhart was brought to the Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit Office voluntarily for an interview. Ehrhart gave a video recorded sworn statement saying she and Bloedel had been arguing about a recent breakup. During this argument, Bloedel was in possession of a firearm that belonged to Ehrhart.

Ehrhart told police she took the gun away from Bloedel. She said she swung the firearm in an upward direction which passed up his torso. She stated the gun fired as she did this. She said Bloedel immediately fell to the floor and she saw a gunshot wound to his forehead.

The warrant says Ehrhart called a relative in south Texas to tell them what had happened. That relative advised her to hang up and call 911.

Ehrhart then called 911. Ehrhart stated she has received safety training and instruction on how to handle a firearm safely. Ehrhart agreed with investigators she was reckless in handling the firearm.

The Lubbock County Detention Center confirms that Ehrhart was employed in a clerical position there from June of 2018 to Dec. 9, 2020. She is no longer a Lubbock County employee.

This is the third shooting inside Lubbock city limits in the past nine days.

The first was at Walmart on 4th and Frankford on Dec. 4, the next was on Dec. 6 in the 2300 block of 39th Street.

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