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BLUFFDALE — Police have arrested a Bluffdale man who claimed he was cleaning his wife's gun when he accidentally shot her in the stomach.
Ryan Mark Newby, 26, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of felony discharge of a firearm, two counts of reckless endangerment, two counts of possession of a firearm by a restricted person, and two counts of carrying a firearm while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Just after 8:30 p.m. Monday, a 25-year-old woman called 911. Dispatchers reported she was "hysterical" and that her mother took the phone from her to inform them that her daughter had been shot, according to a Salt Lake County Jail report.
When officers arrived, they found the crime scene spread "across the entire basement of the residence" and reported "an extremely large amount of blood."
Newby told police "he was watching Netflix and all of a sudden got the idea to clean his wife's .357 revolver," according to the report.
While sitting on his bed and cleaning the gun, Newby's wife entered and stood in front of him.
"Ryan pointed the gun at her, thinking it was unloaded, and pulled the trigger," the report states.
The woman was shot in the abdomen. She was taken to a hospital in critical condition. At the time the officer booked Newby into jail, it was noted in the police report: "Due to the severity of her wound, the possibility of death is high."
Both drugs and alcohol were found at the scene, and Newby appeared to be intoxicated, the report states.
An updated condition for the woman was not available Thursday.
