kaorder1999
11-03-2006, 11:58 AM
RIFLE SHOT DEFLECTED BY CELL PHONE
Associated Press
WILLIS, Texas - Authorities said a homeless man allegedly fired a shot at an Irving truck driver on Thursday, hitting him in the ear and neck. The shot was partly deflected by the victim's cell phone.
Trucker Willie Ray Goree, 50, had parked at a restaurant for lunch and was walking while talking on a cell phone when he was struck.
"He heard a shot, and then a bullet hit his phone and then hit him near his right ear," Willis Police Chief James Nowak said in Friday editions of The Courier News of Conroe.
Police and Montgomery County sheriff's deputies responding to the incident arrested Feofaakia A. Hafoka, 36, a homeless man originally from the South Pacific island of Tonga. Goree identified Hafoka as the shooter. Officers caught up to the suspect as he was walking nearby.
"He was not armed, but did have two .22 caliber cartridges in his possession, and was wearing ear plugs," Nowak said. Hafoka has been charged with aggravated assault.
The shot from a .22-caliber rifle shattered Goree's phone and then passed through his ear and the soft tissue of his neck without causing any major damage, authorities said. He was hospitalized but was expected to be released Friday, Nowak said.
Nowak said multiple rounds were fired. At least one hit Goree's truck. He said the motive for the shooting was unknown.
Nowak said that Hafoka was identified by a Massachusetts ID card, but his last address on file with the FBI was in New Orleans.
The FBI reported that the suspect is not a U.S. citizen, but is in the country legally, Nowak said.
"His previous addresses were all shelter locations," Nowak said.
Associated Press
WILLIS, Texas - Authorities said a homeless man allegedly fired a shot at an Irving truck driver on Thursday, hitting him in the ear and neck. The shot was partly deflected by the victim's cell phone.
Trucker Willie Ray Goree, 50, had parked at a restaurant for lunch and was walking while talking on a cell phone when he was struck.
"He heard a shot, and then a bullet hit his phone and then hit him near his right ear," Willis Police Chief James Nowak said in Friday editions of The Courier News of Conroe.
Police and Montgomery County sheriff's deputies responding to the incident arrested Feofaakia A. Hafoka, 36, a homeless man originally from the South Pacific island of Tonga. Goree identified Hafoka as the shooter. Officers caught up to the suspect as he was walking nearby.
"He was not armed, but did have two .22 caliber cartridges in his possession, and was wearing ear plugs," Nowak said. Hafoka has been charged with aggravated assault.
The shot from a .22-caliber rifle shattered Goree's phone and then passed through his ear and the soft tissue of his neck without causing any major damage, authorities said. He was hospitalized but was expected to be released Friday, Nowak said.
Nowak said multiple rounds were fired. At least one hit Goree's truck. He said the motive for the shooting was unknown.
Nowak said that Hafoka was identified by a Massachusetts ID card, but his last address on file with the FBI was in New Orleans.
The FBI reported that the suspect is not a U.S. citizen, but is in the country legally, Nowak said.
"His previous addresses were all shelter locations," Nowak said.