A 17-year-old was shot in the face while looking for a place to take homecoming photos, according to police in Colorado.
The incident took place Tuesday, when deputies from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) responded to a trespassing report and found a teen boy bleeding heavily from his face.
The sheriff’s office said the homeowner had called police to the property and also called her boyfriend to report the trespassers. She wasn’t at home at the time, but saw two teens on her property through a security camera.
As police pulled up to the property, the young man’s friend was helping him apply pressure to his wounds. A man identified as 38-year-old Brent Metz was standing with the teens.
The injured boy told officers that Metz had shot him in the face through the windshield of the car they had been travelling in.
He said he and his friend were scouting locations for their upcoming homecoming photos and had parked at the property’s gate, jumped the fence and were walking up the driveway to ask the homeowner’s permission. They told officers it appeared no one was home as they approached the residence.
The Colorado Sun reported that they returned to their car and began writing a note to ask about using the property for their photoshoot. Moments later, a truck pulled up next to them on the side of the road, blocking their vehicle. Metz got out and shot one round at the boys through the car windshield.
Officers found the note written by the teens on the scene, which confirmed their story, CBS News reported.
According to an arrest report obtained by CBS, the teen didn’t think Metz meant to shoot him.
The teen “heard the driver say, ‘Oh s–t, my gun went off,’” according to the arrest report.
He also told police that Metz tried to help the injured teen in the aftermath, but the other teen, 15, pushed Metz away and “asked why he shot his friend.”
“It doesn’t make really good sense to us that what they did would constitute the reaction from the homeowner,” Jacki Kelley, JCSO public information officer, told 9 News .”But it’s still an ongoing investigation.”
Metz is a member of the Mountain View Town Council. According to the town’s website, he was sworn in last year and his term expires in 2027.
Metz was arrested and charged with first-degree assault, felony menacing, reckless endangerment and illegal discharge of a firearm.
Police did not disclose what kind of gun was used in the shooting.