This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Police have arrested a man who told police he shot his wife by accident.
The 26-year-old man told police he had been watching television in the couple's Bluffdale home Monday when he had the idea to clean his 25-year-old wife's revolver, according to a probable cause statement.
The man told police he was sitting on his bed with the gun when his wife came into the bedroom, standing directly in front of him.
The man "said he pointed the gun at her, thinking it was unloaded, and pulled the trigger," according to the statement. A bullet struck the woman in her abdomen.
After she was shot, the woman called 911 just after 8:30 p.m., the statement says, and her mother eventually took the phone to explain what had happened to dispatchers. The initial report stated that the man had fled the scene, the statement said, but officers made contact with the man at the scene.
The woman was taken to Intermountain Medical Center in critical condition. Police said Thursday that the woman had been released from the hospital and that the bullet had "luckily" missed all major arteries and organs.
At the scene, police observed "an extremely large amount of blood" that "spread across the entire basement of the residence," the statement said.
Blood and urine samples from the husband tested positive for THC (one of the active chemicals in marijuana) and oxycodone, according to the statement. The man also allegedly admitted he'd been drinking vodka.
Police noted that the husband's pupils appeared dilated and that his eyes were "glossy and bloodshot," the statement says.
In the house, police saw evidence of alcohol and drug paraphernalia, the statement says. Detectives smelled a "strong odor of marijuana" coming from the man's room and saw marijuana pipes, a large bong, and a box "full of drugs and paraphernalia." Police said they saw miscellaneous pills not in pill bottles and a piece of tin foil, which could have been used to smoke them, according to the statement.
The man was booked into the Salt Lake County jail Tuesday on suspicion of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony; felony discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony; reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor; purchase, transfer, possession or use of a firearm by a restricted person, a third-degree felony; and carrying a dangerous weapon while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, a class B misdemeanor.
Charges have not yet been filed.
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