ALOHA, OR (KPTV) -
An argument over gun safety took a dangerous turn Friday evening when police said a woman fired a shotgun though a wall in her Aloha home.
Investigators said 51-year-old Susan Fleming picked up a loaded 12 gauge shotgun and intentionally fired one shot into the wall during an argument with a man she lives with on Southwest 183rd Terrace.
Police said the two were arguing over gun safety, including the proper handling of loaded firearms.
"She was trying to prove that it wasn't safe to have a gun in the house, so she shot it off," said neighbor Sierra Hungate.
Hungate was watching TV when the gun went off next door.
"I heard a boom. I thought it was the wind knocking something over upstairs because all the windows were open. I ran upstairs and looked around. I didn't see anything and went back to watching TV and I thought it was nothing," she said.
Hungate found out what happened the next day after another neighbor said Fleming confessed to him.
"She approached me and she explained that she was having problems with her live-in mate and she had to prove a point so she decided to shoot the gun," said Emett Hawkins, who then called police.
Washington County sheriff's deputies said Fleming was not attempting to shoot the man she lives with.
The shotgun round left a hole about the size of a baseball that penetrated the wall and caused damage to the siding of a neighbor's house.
Fleming was arrested and charged with unlawful use of a weapon, menacing, recklessly endangering another person and second degree criminal mischief.
She was being held on $50,000 bail.
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