Jon Johnson File Photo/Gila Herald: The Graham County Sheriff’s Office investigated a possible burglary that turned out to be a mental health call instead.
Police find no evidence of any intruder
By Jon Johnson
GRAHAM COUNTY – Deputies with the Graham County Sheriff’s Office were joined by officers with the Safford Police Department in responding to an early-morning shooting on Tuesday but no perpetrator could be found.
According to a Sheriff’s Office report, law enforcement officials were dispatched at about 6 a.m. to a residence off State Route 366 (Swift Trail) regarding a possible burglary with a single shot fired.
Upon arrival, law enforcement interviewed the occupant, who said he was taking a bath when a man he knew broke into his house and was trying to cut the lock to his bathroom door. The occupant said he then fired a shot through the door at his assailant but the man ran away through the back door, according to his statements to police.
Authorities located an apparent bullet hole in the door of the room and the man showed him his rifle that was in the bedroom.
However, authorities could find no evidence that anyone had broken into the residence or had been there at all. They did locate another apparent bullet hole in a window which the occupant said had happened the previous night when his perceived assailant was trying to pull the cables and TV out of the window and he had fired at him.
A deputy then spoke to the occupant’s son, who advised that the man was on new medication and he would check on his mental status.
