NEWELL, WV – Authorities say a West Virginia man was rushed to East Liverpool Hospital after being wounded while struggling over a gun with another man as they were shooting rats from a second-story window.
The Hancock County, WV, Sheriff’s Office reported that around 1:00 AM Wednesday, they received a call about a man shot on Harrison Street in Newell. The initial report suggested the person was injured in a gun cleaning accident.
When deputies arrived, they found two men and a woman in the residence. The victim, holding a blood-soaked towel to his head, was standing at the top of the stairs with the woman and the other man. EMTs treated the man for what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to East Liverpool City Hospital and subsequently transferred to UPMC in Pittsburgh; he was in stable condition when transferred.
Deputies questioned the other man and woman and determined the incident was not a gun cleaning accident. Instead, they found that the two men had been shooting at rats outside a second-story window using a small-caliber rifle. The shooting occurred when the men were struggling to get the rifle from each other, causing it to discharge and strike the victim in the head.
Mark Reece Fuller, 58, the owner of the house, was arrested and charged with one count of wanton endangerment with a firearm and one count of shooting within 500 feet of a dwelling. Fuller was taken to the Northern Regional Jail.
