Bethel police arrested a man for attempted murder Thursday evening, after a dispute officers say ended in a spray of bullets outside a local convenience store that narrowly missed another man's head.
A Thursday statement posted on the Bethel Police Department Facebook page said Daniel Misner, 32, was arrested in the incident. The male victim was treated at a local hospital and released for "minor injuries from being physically hit with a gun."
In a criminal complaint against Misner, Bethel Police Officer Jean Achee said dispatchers began receiving calls shortly after 8:30 p.m. Thursday reporting gunfire outside the local AC Quickstop store on Akakeek Street.
Responding officers tracked down Misner, who had allegedly left the scene on a bicycle, at the intersection of Ptarmigan Road and Delapp Street. Police found six .380 caliber shell casings at the scene of the gunfire, as well as a .380 caliber pistol tucked into Misner's waistband.
"The defendant displayed signs of alcohol intoxication and had the strong smell of marijuana," Achee wrote.
Both the victim and Misner told police that they'd never met prior to Thursday's argument, according to Achee.
"(Misner) was advised of his rights and stated he was talking with a guy outside and then an argument started because the other guy called him a 'wetback,'" Achee wrote. "The defendant said the guy made a comment he was going to kill him so to defend himself he shot three times in the air."
The victim said Misner had approached and started speaking with him, then continued to follow him even when he asked that Misner leave him alone. Soon afterward, he told Achee, Misner "pulled out a pistol and hit him on the side of the head," then fired six shots at him as he ran away.
"The victim said he could hear the bullets flying past him and thinks the third bullet nicked the top of his hat," Achee wrote. "I observed a one-inch laceration on the right side of the victim's head. I also secured the victim's black knit cap with bullet holes through the top."
One person standing on his porch along Akakeek Street personally witnessed the shooting, Achee wrote. Three people in another Akakeek Street home told police they saw Misner firing toward the residence, then got down because they feared being struck by stray bullets.
Misner was held at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Correctional Center on the attempted-murder charge, as well as four counts of assault, two counts of misconduct involving weapons and an outstanding misdemeanor warrant.
Bethel police ask anyone with further information about the incident to call Achee at 907-543-3781.