SHOTGUN SURPRISE
NORTH VIA MASINA
SEPT. 8, 9:47 A.M.
A man who had just bought a new shotgun decided that his backyard—in a residential area—was a good place to test it out, according a Pima County Sheriff's Department report.
Deputies responded to a call from a neighbor of the man; the neighbor and the subject live on a cul-de-sac in a high-end northeast-side community. The neighbor said he had been watering plants in his yard that morning when he heard what sounded like shots fired nearby. When he looked over his wall, the neighbor said, he saw the man firing at a bush.
The deputies went to the shooter's house, where the man admitted firing the weapon and invited the deputies inside. He told the deputies he had just bought the shotgun and acknowledged firing about 15 to 20 rounds at a bush in his yard.
The man claimed that he hadn't been using actual shotgun shells, but instead was firing "primers"—shells empty of ammunition. Thus, he said, his shooting had not endangered anyone.
Nevertheless, the deputies arrested him on suspicion of disorderly conduct with a firearm.
DRINKING AND RIDING
WEST BOPP ROAD
SEPT. 9, 6:49 P.M.
A man claimed that he had been whipped by another man who came up to him on horseback while he was standing on his property, a PCSD report stated.
The man told the reporting deputy he'd been standing near where his horse was grazing when a group of three males and one female, all on horseback, rode up to him, laughing and pointing at his horse. One of the riders, who was making fun of the horse because it was old, then took a leather strap and "whipped" it at the man, striking him across the hand, the report said.
Following the incident, the man said, the members of the group rode away.
The man told deputies he believed that the people on horseback had been drinking. He stated that he thought his alleged assaulter was a neighbor, and described him as about 6 feet tall and wearing a black hat and plaid shirt.
Deputies searched the area surrounding the man's property but found no one that matched the description he gave.
No arrests had been made by the time the report was filed.
