FAIRMONT, W.Va. — A Fairmont man has been charged with wanton endangerment after police allege he accidentally discharged a weapon, sending the round through the wall of his neighbor’s home.
On Saturday, a resident of the Boothsville Apartment complex told police a bullet went through his wall and into the ceiling while he and his 11-year-old daughter were in the home.
After examining the evidence, police spoke to the neighbor, Eric Schell, 34, who answered the door wearing hearing protection commonly worn by people firing weapons.
Schell told police the weapon was accidentally discharged while he was cleaning it. Police noted the hole in the wall was consistent with a hole in the victim’s residence.
During questioning, Schell told police there was an argument with the neighbor earlier in the day, and he was standing while cleaning the gun.
Schell told police he didn’t report the errant shot because he “just wanted to forget the incident happened and move on.”
Schell is being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail in lieu of a $7,500 bond.