MOUND CITY ? An Eagle Scout has been put under the care of the state juvenile authority for an indefinite period of time in the shooting death of his father.

A judge in Linn County imposed the sentence Monday on Christopher Wottlin, now 17. The boy had pleaded guilty to a juvenile charge of involuntary manslaughter in the September shooting death of his father Robert Wottlin, a 56-year-old retired Army officer, at the family farm near Centerville.

Lawyers said the boy, who was 16 when the shooting happened, had argued with his father about wanting to live with his mother in Johnson County and fired a shot from a Glock handgun through his bedroom door. They said Christopher Wottlin wanted to scare his father, but found the man bleeding in the hallway.

Wottlin’s sentence allows him to live in group homes until he’s released to his family, a decision that will be made by a Johnson County judge.

If he fails or commits another crime, he has to serve a three-year sentence in juvenile prison.

Judge Richard Smith said that experts said Wottlin showed true remorse, was unlikely to reoffend and has no other criminal record. Smith said it was appropriate to give Wottlin a chance to heal and straighten out his life.

“There’s only so much tragedy that can be visited on a family,” the judge said.