TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) New reports and 911 calls have been released from the night a man reportedly shot an alleged intruder at his home in the Arivaca area.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department says it happened on July 31 just after 7 p.m. on the 13000 block of West Arivaca Road. The homeowner, 71-year-old Michael Goodwin, is facing two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Goodwin was booked and released on his own recognizance, pending future court appearances.
According to reports from PCSD, the man Goodwin is accused of shooting is an undocumented immigrant. In the initial reports doctors told police the man was shot in the spine and was paralyzed from the waist down. The night of the incident he was airlifted to Banner University Medical Center, documents show.
The PCSD reports reveal both Goodwin and the shooting victim gave detectives different accounts as to what happened.
Goodwin told investigators he was lying in his bedroom when he heard a voice and noises coming from the living room area. He reached for the gun under his pillow, and told deputies he also had a handgun on the front table in the living room and a rifle on the mantel in the living room.
Later Goodwin told police by the time officers had arrived, he had moved the .9 millimeter and the rifle into his bedroom. Goodwin told officers when he went around the corner from his bedroom he saw the silhouette of a man.
When Goodwin cocked the hammer back on his pistol and told the man to get out, Goodwin told investigators the man put his arm up and then ran towards the door, through the kitchen and into the carport area.
Goodwin told deputies he did not fire any shots while inside the home. Goodwin said he chased the man outside and fired two shots from the carport area.
Initial reports indicate the suspected intruder was shot and fell about 60 yards away from the main residence.
Here is another part of the PCSD report:
Mr. Goodwin repeatedly told me he did not mean to shoot him and only shot to scare him off because he feared for his life. He did not know if there were any more people out there who were out to hurt him.
In 911 recordings, a caller who identified himself as Michael Goodwin told a dispatcher he shot a man who was in his house. At one point the caller told dispatchers he thought he had seen something in the alleged intruders hand. While telling dispatchers how to find his home, he repeatedly expressed concerns about the man's condition.
This is an excerpt from the 911 call:
Caller: I didn't mean to hurt him but I, I was out of control I was so scared.
Dispatcher: OK you shot him?
Caller: Yes.
Dispatcher: OK. Where did you shoot him at?
Caller: I don't know.
Dispatcher: Do you know if it was in the leg or the arm?
Caller: Probably in the back. We were both running. I was running to get him out of the house and as soon as he went out the door, I fired. I was right behind him.
KGUN9 spoke to the attorney for Goodwin who says the whole event has been traumatic for his client. When Goodwin fired the shots, Butler said his client couldn't see the man he only heard running. Goodwin was also scared there may have been more than one person on his property, Butler said.
"If his intent was to shoot the man, he could have shot him right there while the guy was standing in his house," Butler said. "That wasn't what this was all about. He never intended to shoot anybody. He wanted to scare them away because he wanted them to come back."
Butler says in the past his client has had run-ins with undocumented immigrants on his property.
According to PCSD reports, the man who was shot spoke to an investigator from the hospital. He told the deputy he was deported in June and came back into the U.S. to see his family who was living in Georgia. He had been in Arizona for a few days and before going to Goodwin's house, he told detectives he had knocked on the door of another home.
The man told investigators he was searching for food. When he got to the home where the shooting happened, he saw a man through a window. He said a screen door was already open so he knocked. When he didn't get a response, he tried the handle which he said was unlocked.
According to the PCSD documents, the man says he yelled hello and another man appeared in the house pointing a gun at him. The shooting victim claims he never entered Goodwin's home.
Reports show doctors told police a bullet severed the shooting victim's spine and he was paralyzed from the waist down.
KGUN9 spoke to Bill Risner who is representing the alleged intruder. He says he does not believe he client ever entered Goodwin's home.
If it's true his client was running away from the suspected gunman, Risner said he doesn't understand why multiple warning shots were necessary.
At the scene investigators found items they believe belonged to the accused intruder, including a brown camouflage backpack, a map, a cellphone, and a white property from a detention center where the man may have been incarcerated.
The first deputy to respond to the area noted that next to the man who was shot, he found some kind of folded-up tool and a set of keys under him. Investigators also noticed on one foot he had a carpet boot which the deputy noted is often used by undocumented immigrants and drug smugglers to cover their footprints.
Louis Fidel is an attorney in Tucson not associated with this case. He says ultimately it may be up to the jury to consider the facts presented by the state and by the defendant.
"The jury will have to decide from all of that, what do we believe happened?," Fidel said. "And based on what we believe happened, how reasonable was the accused's fear that he was in danger?"
Goodwin has a court date at the end of September.
