Photo: Alan Christoper Whitman
A 30-year-old Mountain Home man has been arrested, after he allegedly shot another man in the leg in the early morning hours Tuesday. Alan Christopher Whitman was arrested later Tuesday morning in connection with the incident injuring a 21-year-old Mountain Home man.
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery says his office was notified at 2:17 Tuesday morning that a man had come into the emergency room at Baxter Regional Medical Center (BRMC) with a gunshot wound. The victim told deputies he had received a message from Whitman saying he needed to talk to him. After Whitman picked up the victim, he said he needed to discuss a rumor about a woman. The victim denied the rumor, and the two continued driving around Mountain Home.
They eventually stopped at a residence on 16th street, where Whitman went inside and obtained a handgun, and the two continued driving.
Whitman drove to Old Arkana Road, where he told the victim he was going to ask him some questions, and his life depended on how he answered. Whitman pulled over the vehicle, ordered the victim out, allegedly shot him in the leg and drove away.
The victim called a relative who picked him up and took him to BRMC. The injury is not believed to be life threatening.
Later Tuesday morning, sheriff’s investigators located Whitman and his vehicle. The handgun was in the vehicle with one round spent.
During an interview with investigators, Whitman said the gun belonged to the victim, and he had shot himself in the leg.
A woman who lives on 16th street in Mountain Home and who knows Whitman, saw his photo on the sheriff’s office website and then discovered her handgun was missing. She called the sheriff’s office and described the weapon, which matched the description of the gun found in Whitman’s vehicle.
Whitman is charged with four felonies, including battery in the first degree, terroristic threatening in the first degree, unauthorized use of another person’s property to facilitate a crime and probation violation. Bond in the charges is $25,000, but he is held without bond on the probation violation.
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