A Colorado teen was shot in the face by a town council member while trying to ask the official’s girlfriend for permission to take homecoming photos on her property, cops said.
The 17-year-old boy told authorities that he and a friend hopped the fence at a home in Conifer, about 30 miles southwest of Denver, and walked up the driveway on Tuesday in hopes of speaking with the homeowner about using their property for homecoming photos, the Colorado Sun reported.
When they were unable to find the homeowner, they returned to their car and began writing a note to ask about using the property for a photoshoot.
Moments later, a truck pulled up next to them on the road. Its driver, Brent Metz, 38, got out and shot at the boys through their car’s windshield, striking one of the boys in the face, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said in a release.
Police were called to the home by the homeowner who reported two trespassers, and found the boy “bleeding heavily from his face” as his friend applied pressure to the wound with a T-shirt.
Metz, the homeowner’s boyfriend and a member of the Mountain View Town Council, was called to the home by his girlfriend, who wasn’t home but saw the teens on her security system, according to the outlet.
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 had shot him intentionally.
The teen “heard the driver (Brent) say ‘Oh s–t, my gun went off,’” according to the arrest report.
He also told authorities that Metz tried to help after he fired the round, but the other boy, who is 15 and a childhood friend of the victim, pushed him away and “asked why he shot his friend.”
Officers found Metz’s gun inside his truck and he was standing next to the boys when officers arrived, according to the release.
The sheriff’s department did not say what kind of gun was used in the shooting.
Metz is a Mountain View Town Council member, according to the town’s website. He was sworn in last year in the town of just over 500 residents. His term is set to expire in 2027.
He was arrested and booked in jail on charges of first-degree assault, felony menacing, illegal discharge of a firearm and reckless endangerment.
The teen was still hospitalized as of Wednesday, authorities said.
