- April 23, 2024
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Neighbors heard a man and woman arguing, a shotgun blast and something that sounded like reloading, and then silence. Worried, they called 911.
No one had been hurt, Flagler County Sheriff's Office deputies found when they arrived at the home on Second Path in Palm Coast at about 5:46 p.m. June 1.
They arrested 32-year-old Christopher Gibbons, who'd fired a 12-gauge shotgun into the air outside the couple's duplex after an argument with his girlfriend, according to a Sheriff's Office charging affidavit.
"Christopher stood directly next to the residence when he fired the shotgun round straight into the air," a deputy wrote in the affidavit. "Both sides of the duplex were occupied when the shotgun was fired."
Gibbons looked drunk when deputies spoke with him. He was on probation for DUI, and one condition of his probation was that he did not consume alcohol. There were two shotgun shells in his pocket, and he initially refused to tell deputies where the shotgun was.
Then he said it was inside the house. Deputies looked: They found a .22 caliber rifle leaning against a gun safe in a child's bedroom closet, but no shotgun. Then Gibbons said it was outside near the air conditioning unit, where deputies found it, along with one spent 12-gauge shotgun shell.
Gibbons' girlfriend told deputies the argument started because she was upset with Gibbons for staying home to drink instead of coming with her to a medical appointment.
Gibbons and the girlfriend both said that Gibbons fired the shotgun.
Deputies charged Gibbons with negligent discharge of a firearm over an occupied residence, use of a firearm while under the influence of alcohol, disorderly intoxication and probation violation. He remained at the county jail as of the morning of June 3.
