Saturday, January 20, 2007

Mouseguns At War

"The two men involved in a shootout southeast of Bozeman Wednesday each fired at the other three times with a small-caliber handgun.

Both were hit in the chest, although the hospitalized man was also hit in the face and hand, according to documents filed late Thursday in Justice Court.

The hunt for one of the men, Chris William Wagner, 33, continued Friday.

"Basically, all we're going to be doing now is contacting hospitals and doctors at medical clinics, hoping we can track him down," Gallatin County Sheriff Jim Cashell said. "Eventually, we're going to find him someplace."

It is unknown whether Wagner has a vehicle, but he has likely gone to a place where he has friends, Cashell said. Other leads, which couldn't be discussed, are being followed.

"I don't think he's in the area," Cashell said.

The other man, Michael Peters, 33, of Bozeman, remained in Bozeman Deaconess Hospital in fair condition, recovering from his gunshot wounds.

Peters was driving his pickup truck away from the home he shares with his father on 23 Gardner Park Drive Wednesday when Wagner "flagged him down," according to court records.

Peters stopped. Wagner approached the driver's side of the truck, pointed what looked like a .22-caliber handgun at Peters and said, "All right buddy, scoot over," according to court records.

Instead, Peters pulled an automatic, .32-caliber Kel-Tec handgun from his right pocket, jumped out of the truck and fired three shots at Wagner, hitting him in the chest, he told detectives.

Then Peters' gun jammed.

When Peters' pistol quit firing, Wagner shot back three times, hitting Peters in the chest, left hand and right cheek.

Wagner then ran off into the woods along the Sourdough Trail.

Peters' dad, Bozeman psychiatrist John Peters, called 911. His son, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, waited inside the house until police arrived.

When a sheriff's sergeant arrived, he found two guns, a .22-caliber rifle and a black semiautomatic pistol, in the home near Peters, the sergeant told detectives. Peters had blood on his lip, finger and clothes.

Peters, a massage therapist and firefighter, was taken to the hospital. Doctors operated to repair his wounded left hand on Friday and he remained in fair condition, his close friend said.

During an interview at the emergency room, Peters told a detective that the attack likely had something to do with his ex-girlfriend, who had also dated Wagner.

Four days before the shootout, Peters had told the ex-girlfriend that a suspicious man had been to his house. He believed it was Wagner, according to court records.

The ex-girlfriend then e-mailed Peters a picture of Wagner.

One person who knows a little bit about Wagner is Mineral County, Colo., Sheriff Fred Hosselkus.

From 2002 to 2005, Wagner lived off and on in Creede and South Fork, Colo., in nearby Rio Grande County, Hosselkus said Friday in a phone interview. Wagner's father lives in Denver and his grandfather in South Fork.

Wagner worked at Wolf Creek ski area and took odd jobs as a mechanic and carpenter, Rio Grande County Sheriff Brian Norton said.

"He was a pretty quiet person," Hosselkus said. "He didn't really get out in public a whole lot."

But Wagner is wanted in Creede on first-degree assault and domestic-violence charges for beating the ex-girlfriend in October 2005, causing severe brain injuries. He later escaped from house arrest and fled the area.

Wagner was also charged with misdemeanor crimes in Rio Grande County, mostly traffic offenses, Norton said.

If found, Wagner will be charged with attempted deliberate homicide for the Bozeman shootout.

He is described as being 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds, with brown hair and brown or green eyes. He was last seen wearing a dark knit hat, glasses, dark ski pants, a green ski jacket and Sorel boots."

Yes. Shot placement would have turned this into a different story, but it isn't something you can count on. Some freeze, others are stone cold killers when it hits the fan, and many spray and pray. With that much adrenaline pumping into the system, you become faster, stronger, your vision improves dramatically, pain response shuts down and so does a great deal of one's hearing. You can get the shakes before, during, or after the event, and will never know which type you are until it happens. One of the best combat shots I ever met could stand and trade shots with enough lead in the air to poison a room full of anti's. When the smoke cleared he couldn't light his own cigarette, but start up the action once again and he'd be accurate as hell. Never qualified worth a damn at the range but don't get anywhere near him when it counted.

Then there's Jimmy C. who could hit a kite-string at 100 yards but was all but useless when the for-real bell sounded.

Okay, I'll shut up.

No comments: