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MURRAY — A man celebrating his birthday over the weekend was shot in the chest by his housemate who witnesses say was intoxicated, according to police.
Christopher Thomas Perschon, 45, was arrested for investigation of attempted murder, aggravated assault resulting in serious injury, possession of gun by a restricted person and intoxication.
On Sunday, a man was celebrating his birthday at a local bar with friends where "Perschon got heavily intoxicated and was brandishing a firearm to the partygoers," a police booking affidavit states, adding that the victim "tried to tell the suspect to put the firearm away, but the suspect was belligerent."
The party then moved to the home where both Perschon and the victim live. At the home, "Christopher remained belligerent and was causing a disturbance during the party. (The victim) said the problem was that Christopher was still carrying a firearm on his hip and was making the partygoers uncomfortable with his intoxication level," the affidavit states.
The victim then tried to get Perschon to go to his room, hoping he would fall asleep. But when he "started pushing Christopher toward his bedroom … a verbal argument ensued." The victim told police that he shoved Perschon "hard" into his bedroom, and Perschon responded by saying, "You think you're some big man now? I'm going to shoot you," according to the affidavit.
The victim tried to escape into an adjacent bathroom, but when he turned around, Perschon was pointing a gun at him from 3 to 4 feet away. Just as the victim tried to swat the gun away, a round was fired.
"That round struck (the victim) in the upper left chest, going clean through the other side of his back. (He) also sustained an injury to his right thumb from trying to grab at the gun when it was discharged," the arrest report says.
Friends drove the victim to a local hospital. After police were called, they learned that Perschon was last seen asleep on a couch in the house. The Murray police SWAT team obtained a warrant, entered the house and took Perschon into custody without incident.
