Greeley man arrested for drunken backyard shooting

A man who just moved to Greeley from Alaska has been charged with a felony for shooting a rifle into the dirt in his backyard because he wanted to “hear his gun.”

Police arrested a 31-year-old man Oct. 20 on a weapons charge while intoxicated, according to Colorado court records, after he fired three shots into the ground in his backyard, citing that “it’s different in Alaska.” according to his arrest affidavit.

On Oct. 20, Greeley police were dispatched to the 1200 block of 14th Avenue for multiple reports of shots fired. One police officer also heard gunshots while on routine patrol in the area.

When officers arrived, they said they saw a man lying on the ground inside the home. When the officer knocked on the door, the man, whose name the Tribune prefers not to release because of the nature of the incident and the lack of charges against him, got up and answered the door.

When the man came outside, police say he was unsteady on his feet, they could smell alcohol on his breath and that he appeared “very intoxicated.”

The man initially denied owning any firearms or firing any weapons that night, but eventually admitted to firing three shots after police found spent shell casings on the back porch and told the man a neighbor identified him as the shooter.

The man told police he had just moved to Colorado from Alaska to start over. He told police things were different in Alaska and he just wanted to “hear his gun,” so he fired the gun into the dirt behind the house, according to the affidavit.

When police went to the home to retrieve the gun, they say they noticed several empty alcohol bottles throughout the home. When police found the rifle, the ammunition in the store turned out to be the same as the spent casings on the back porch, according to the affidavit.

The man was taken into custody and, according to police, he made several remarks to officers about being drunk and firing a rifle.

He was released the same day on a $3,000 bond pending an arraignment in Weld County District Court on Nov. 26.