CACHE COUNTY, Utah, May 29, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — A Cache County woman was booked into jail Sunday after she allegedly shot at her boyfriend while he was trimming trees.
The man called dispatch and reported that this girlfriend shot at him three times with 9mm bullets. Officers of the Cache County Sheriff‘s Office responded to the scene.
Gephardt Daily is withholding the suspect’s name to protect the privacy of the victim and the woman’s son.
“I observed three recently fired 9mm shell casings on the gravel driveway,” the CCSO deputy’s statement says. “The casings are within an estimated 8 feet of each other.” The shells were silver, with nickel plating.
“I observed a round hole in the front of an old camp trailer near the top of the camper, the hole had fresh splinters and appeared to be recently made,” the deputy’s statement says. “The hole appears to be similar in size to bullet holes in targets from my 9mm service weapon.”
The deputy also saw an oblong hole in the hood of the Toyota pickup hooked up to the camper trailer.
“The bullet appears to have hit the hood at an angle, with the path of the bullet going from the front passenger corner of the hood toward the driver side of the cab…. The rounds fired appear to have been hollow point type ammunition. The caliber and bullet type are commonly used in self-defense applications and are visually similar to the rounds issued by the Sheriff’s Office for use in on-duty handguns.”
The deputy reported the bullet that struck the pickup hood was aimed in the direction of the man who called dispatch, “with the intent to hit him or with depraved indifference to human life. (The suspect) knowingly created a grave risk of death to (her boyfriend) by firing a deadly weapon at him.”
The man said he and his girlfriend “had been arguing before he went outside to step away and remove himself from the argument.” He said his girlfriend and her 10-year-old son “played kickball in the backyard while he trimmed trees in another area near the camper. (The man) said that (the suspect) and her son went inside the house, then (she ) came out waving a gun at him and yelling. (He) said that he didn’t remember what (the suspect) was saying because he was focused on the gun.”
The man said his girlfriend went back inside the house, then came back out, waving the gun again.
He said when she “came back out, she pointed the gun to the side and fired two shots. (He) said that he was alarmed. He described that he feared for his safety with shots being fired. (He) said that he opened the driver door of the Toyota pickup to get his phone and call 911. (He) said that as he was looking down at his phone (when the suspect) fired a third shot,” which he believed was the bullet that hit the pickup truck hood, charging documents say.
Deputies contacted the alleged shooter, who was in the house, the affidavit says. She came out and was cooperative. After a search warrant was issued, officers searched the house.
“Deputies found a Taurus 9mm pistol downstairs in the home, under some shoe boxes and other items. It appears to have been deliberately hidden,” the probable cause statement says. “The gun was loaded with one round in the chamber and about five rounds in the magazine. The magazine indicates that it holds 12 rounds.”
The bullets found were silver with nickel plating, visually matching the shell casings found in the driveway, “and appear to be a hollow point type bullet. An empty holster was found in the downstairs bathroom near the sink.”
The suspect initially denied having a firearm, but later “admitted to having a gun which she kept in a safe inside her bedroom closet. Deputies found an empty safe in (her) closet.”
At the Sheriff’s Office, the woman stated “several times that she had no idea why she was at the Sheriff’s Office or what had happened. (The suspect) was able to describe in detail what had happened earlier in the day, but she could not describe what had happened after she played kickball with her son until she arrived at the Sheriff’s Office.”
The deputy noted the smell of alcohol on the suspect’s breath, and the fact that her eyes were bloodshot.
She “told me several times that she would start detoxing from alcohol after about 20 hours if she had to stay in jail. (The victim) told me that (the suspect) drinks too much, and he has told her so. He said she drinks every day.”
The suspect was booked into the Cache County Jail on suspicion of:
- Murder (attempted), a first-degree felony
- Domestic violence in the presence of a child, a third-degree felony
- Carry a dangerous weapon under the influence of alcohol/drugs, a class B misdemeanor
The suspect was ordered to be held without bail.
