HOLLY (WWJ) – An Oakland County man is facing charges after accidentally shooting his friend after a night out last week.
Thomas Wolford of Rose Township was arraigned Saturday on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, careless discharge of a firearm causing injury or death and firearms possession while under the influence.
Holly police officers were called to a home on Maple Street shortly before 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22 after getting reports of a man who had been shot.
When officers showed up they found a 28-year-old Rose Township man lying in the front yard with a gunshot wound to his right hip and buttock area, according to the Holly Police Department.
Another man, later identified as Wolford, was found hiding behind a pickup truck in the driveway.
The victim told officers Wolford had accidentally shot him with a pistol. Wolford was arrested and officers recovered a loaded semi-automatic handgun.
The men, who are friends and co-workers, were returning home from a night out when the victim stopped the truck on a dirt road “to relieve himself,” police officials said in a release.
When he came back to the truck he heard “a loud pop and felt pressure in his right side,” according to the release. Authorities say Wolford had a gun concealed in his pants pocket and was taking it out to put it in a backpack when it accidentally discharged, hitting his friend.
The victim drove a short distance to a friend’s house on Maple to call police and get medical assistance, authorities said. He was taken to the hospital to be treated for “a serious, but non-life-threatening wound,” according to police.
Wolford was determined to be intoxicated at the time of the shooting and he did not have a concealed pistol license.
Wolford’s bond was set at $10,000. His next court date is scheduled for March 3.
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