A Morgantown man is facing attempted murder charges after he allegedly tried to shoot a relative inside their home on Warm Hollow Road.
According to the criminal complaint, Dale L. Martin, 53, of Morgantown, became irate at the victim and his girlfriend due to the couple “eating all the tacos.”
The victims told Monongalia County deputies and West Virginia State Troopers that Martin then allegedly retrieved a .22 semi-automatic rifle from his bedroom. Noticing the firearm, the victim began to run up the staircase. He told officers Martin then fired the gun into the staircase where he had just been standing.
While officers were on scene, another relative arrived and told police that Martin had called him and stated, “I just shot at [the victim], don’t think I won’t get the 12 gauge and blow his f****** head off.”
Deputies investigating the incident located the firearm in a bedroom of the residence as well as a spent shell casing, the complaint said. They also located three bullet holes in the wall of the staircase with at least two of the rounds going through the residence into the outer walls of the home.
Martin is charged with attempted murder and is currently being held at North Central Regional Jail on a $100,000 cash bond.
