A Kent man has pleaded not guilty to discharging a firearm within city limits on New Year's Eve.
Mitchell S. Waller, 49, of 438 E. School St., pleaded not guilty Jan. 3 to one count of having a weapon while intoxicated, one count of discharging a firearm and two counts of aggravated menacing, all of which are first-degree misdemeanors.
Kent Police Lt. James Prusha said, according to witnesses, a man and woman were walking home near the corner of East School Street and South Lincoln Street when the man stopped to urinate in the street.
Prusha said witnesses reported Waller started yelling at them and waving the gun in the air before firing a shot.
"The shot up was up into the air, and after doing that he pointed the gun toward them," Prusha said.
Police responded to the call of shots fired at about 4 a.m. Jan. 1.
Prusha said officers did not recover a gun but did find a shotgun shell. Officers conducted a gunshot residue test on Waller to determine if he had fired a gun recently, but those test results won't be back for several weeks.
Waller is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on the charges on Feb. 14 in Portage County Municipal Court Judge Barbara Oswick's courtroom.
I eagerly await Fox News-inspired rants about how maybe we should start banning cars and hammers if we're going to start going after guns.
I also think the Urinator should pay all legal fees and fines for the shooter. Oh, and the Urinator should apologize to Mr. Waller for the trouble he has caused him.
I've read a lot of crazy stuff on comment boards, but this is right there at the top.
Speaking of self control: how do you think the Urinator was doing in that department that night?
"He got all frazzled" and "shot the gun to stop him from peeing" are fantastic reasons to keep morons with guns off the streets. I'm assuming you'll say the guy with the gun was a "law abiding citizen". Law abiding citizen he was not. Just a nut with a gun. Wait, a drunk nut with a gun. Yay!