A Camas man who’s accused of shooting his sister’s boyfriend Wednesday evening told emergency dispatchers that he shot the man to protect his sister.
Matthew T. Turner, 23, made a first appearance Thursday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree assault.
Camas police were called about 5 p.m. to a residence at 3345 S.E. Third Ave., for a reported shooting. They found 29-year-old Miguel Fernandez in the driveway, suffering a gunshot wound to his right shoulder. His girlfriend, Krystal Turner, 26, provided him aid until medical personnel arrived and took him to a hospital for treatment, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
The injury was described as not being life-threatening, and Fernandez was in serious but stable condition, Camas police said.
Krystal Turner told police that she was driving Fernandez, her brother and his girlfriend, Alisha Heimstead, to go hiking when she and Fernandez began arguing. She turned the car around and went home. When they got out of the car, Krystal Turner said, she pushed Fernandez, and while she was walking away, he shoved her from behind. She fell into a small, plastic pool in the driveway, court records said.
She said she then heard a gunshot, looked up and saw her brother with a rifle in his hands, and Fernandez had been shot, according to the court document.
Heimstead told police that she walked away when the couple started fighting. But she said she heard them physically fighting and Krystal Turner yelling, “Miguel! Stop!” before hearing the gunshot, the affidavit states.
Matthew Turner was reportedly cooperative with police. He said Fernandez has a temper and that once the couple started fighting, he knew it was going to escalate. He went inside the home and grabbed a rifle as a “scare tactic,” he said. While retrieving the weapon, Turner said he saw Fernandez push his sister and put her in a rear choke hold, according to the court document.
When he came back outside, he saw Fernandez let go of his sister, and she fell into the pool. Turner racked a round to get Fernandez’s attention, he said, but Fernandez stepped toward him, aggressively, so he fired, the affidavit said.
Heimstead called 911 and gave the phone to Turner. He later told police he had no “malicious intent” but wanted Fernandez to stop. “I’m not saying what I did was right. … I saw what I saw and did what I did,” the affidavit quotes Turner as saying.
On Thursday, Judge Scott Collier set his bail at $100,000. He will be arraigned Sept. 7.
