By Barry Porterfield
What appears to be an accidental shooting during an early Independence Day celebration at a rural Maysville home now has some criminal charges pointed directly at an Oklahoma City man.
Dual counts are now faced by Jeremiah John Fisher, 23, after the double barrel 12 gauge shotgun he was holding went off at the residence he was visiting west of Maysville resulting in four injuries, including a young child.
The two formal accusations filed earlier this week in Garvin County District Court are focused on an incident that actually took place the weekend before the July 4th holiday.
The resident of the house later told authorities he holds a party every year the week before the summer festivities.
The incident came during the late night hours of June 28 when county deputies here were informed by McClain County officers of a possible shooting involving someone being hurt in the head by a shot fire from a BB gun.
They quickly learned a different type of weapon was involved.
What they found out from witnesses was Fisher had accidentally fired a shotgun resulting in three injuries with one of those being a 1 1/2-year-old child.
It was later discovered a fourth person was also injured from the buckshot fired from the weapon.
“(The resident) advised me they were riding three-wheelers, shooting fireworks and firearms and drinking beer and liquor,” Garvin County deputy Zac Henderson stated in a filed affidavit on the incident.
Authorities said all those injured were treated at a hospital and released with what were described as non-threatening injuries.
Fisher told the investigating officers that he had initially fired a shot from the weapon into the air
He said his wife attempted to grab the gun from him as the shot was accidentally fired striking the concrete portion of a driveway.
Fisher’s claim was later supported by the individual living at the residence where the party took place, according to the affidavit.
A felony charge of child endangerment and a misdemeanor count of carrying a firearm while under the influence of alcohol were filed against Fisher this week.
A second subject at the scene, Christopher Michael Hollis, 33, Maysville, was arrested when he was alleged to have interfered with deputies as they processed the scene of the shooting.
