It isn’t difficult to imagine how a long-term feud between neighbors can reach a breaking point. If heated enough, such a dispute can make a person do things that are wildly out of character. When criminal charges result from a neighborhood dispute of any kind, it is important for the circumstances of the charges to be carefully analyzed. After all, every story has at least two sides.
A man in New Brighton is facing serious criminal charges after what is believed to have been a 15-year feud with his neighbors across the street. According to police, the 57-year-old father and his wife were upset at their neighbors after they reported the couple’s son to police. The 23-year-old son had already been arrested for allegedly making terrorist threats against the neighbors.
A criminal complaint indicates that a verbal altercation ensued after the young man’s arrest. His mother allegedly cursed at the neighbors and blamed them for her son’s going to jail.
Authorities claim that the father then came out of the residence with a shotgun. He is accused of crossing the street and shooting the neighbors, a man and a woman. The man died at the scene, and the woman was treated for injuries and released.
Police claim to have found four empty shotgun shells not far from the neighbors’ front yard.
Now the 57-year-old father is facing charges of second-degree attempted murder and second-degree murder. He reportedly told investigators that he had no intention of shooting the woman. It remains to be seen whether prosecutors can prove the degree of intent required to achieve a conviction on such charges.
Source: CBS Minnesota, “New Brighton Man Charged In Neighbor’s Shooting Death,” Bill Hudson, May 7, 2014