Fraternity gunshot leads to arrests
By Laban Pelz
The Collegian
Fresno police arrested two people,
one a Fresno State student and fraternity member, at the Alpha Gamma Rho
fraternity house Saturday after officers heard a gunshot in the early
morning hours.
Lyle McDowell, a member of Alpha Gamma Rho, said he was showing his friend
his 12-gauge shotgun in the house parking lot when it accidentally discharged.
The weapon was pointed in the air and no one was hurt, McDowell said.
“It was entirely a mistake,” he said. “It wasn’t
an anger issue. It wasn’t pointed at anyone. It was an accident.”
McDowell was arrested and booked into Fresno County jail Saturday on suspicion
of reckless discharge of a firearm and possession of an illegal weapon,
the Fresno Bee reported Sunday. He was released early Sunday morning on
bail.
After hearing the gunshot Saturday morning, Fresno police drove to the
fraternity house and their investigation led to McDowell’s room,
the Bee said. Fresno State police also came to the house, and McDowell
said a total of three squad cars were present at one point .
Asking who had fired the shot, officers were referred to McDowell, who
said he told the truth and cooperated with their investigation.
After the firing, McDowell said he had immediately taken the shotgun back
to his room, put it away and locked it up. He said he gave officers his
room keys and waited outside, but when they tried to enter his room they
found that a different friend of McDowell, who was visiting from home,
had locked himself in and wouldn’t let police enter. Police eventually
got into McDowell’s room and the friend was handcuffed but released
before police left the house, McDowell said.
“He was just scared,” McDowell said.
Police took with them McDowell, the shotgun, its ammunition and what the
Bee said were brass knuckles.
“It was a belt buckle shaped like brass knuckles,” McDowell
said.
He also said the reason he was suspected of possessing an illegal weapon
was because police thought the shotgun’s barrel may have been shorter
than 18 and a half inches, which is illegal in California. McDowell said
the shotgun’s barrel was 20 inches.
A senior finance major, McDowell said he owned the shotgun for dove hunting.
He said he has a hunting license, has taken hunting safety courses and
has no priors. Though he recalled having a beer before the incident, he
said alcohol played no part.
McDowell said Alpha Gamma Rho house rules state any firearm must be stored
locked, unloaded and away from its ammunition, which must also be locked.
He said he thought his shotgun was unloaded when he took it out of its
case, and not having put any shot in after the gun’s uncasing, expected
it to be safe.
“I don’t know how it could have happened,” he said.
Fraternity president Justin Price gave a different weapons policy for
Alpha Gamma Rho, saying no weapons were allowed in the house and the existence
of McDowell’s shotgun was not known.
“We have a zero weapons policy,” Price said. “Had we
known about this it would have been dealt with. Unfortunately we didn’t
know.”
McDowell said there will likely be repercussions within the fraternity,
but said this was his own issue.
“This has nothing to do with the school or with AGR (fraternity),”
McDowell said. “This was purely a mistake by me as an individual.”
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