Charges filed, new info in Sunriver New Year’s shooting

Formal charges were filed Monday against a California man who allegedly fired a gunshot at a Sunriver rental home early on New Year’s Day, striking two people with the bullet, Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel said Monday.

Hummel revealed some new details about the reported shooting on Shagbark Lane that sent a woman to the hospital and led to the arrest that day of Mikhail Mykhaulovich Pitsul, 21, of Antelope, California on initial charges of unlawful use of a weapon, third-degree assault, three counts of reckless endangering and disorderly conduct.

Hummel said Monday that Pitsul is scheduled to return to court on Feb. 22 to face formal charges of five counts of recklessly endangering another and one count of pointing a firearm at another.

Pitsul and numerous friends and family members rented the house for the holiday, the DA said.

Around 2 a.m., Pitsul allegedly “retrieved his loaded handgun and interjected himself into a verbal argument that two other people were having in the house,” the DA’s office said in a news release.

“A struggle ensued, the gun discharged, and two people were struck by the bullet,” they said; previously, Sunriver police only indicated one person, a California woman, was wounded and hospitalized.

Sunriver Police Chief Marc Mills confirmed to NewsChannel 21 on Monday that the woman who was hospitalized had been standing near two men who were arguing when the shot was fired.

Mills said a man was struck by the same bullet after it traveled through the floor and into the bedroom below on the first floor, hitting one of two people in bed on the first floor.

“The bullet did not penetrate, but did cause minor injury,” Mills said, adding that the “very lucky” man was treated at the scene and did not need transport to the hospital.

Hummel also confirmed alcohol was involved in the incident.

“Alcohol and guns are the worst possible combination,” he said Monday. “The residents of this house were intoxicated, and a gun was the last thing they needed to be brought to the party.”

But the DA added, “Sunriver is one of the safest resort communities in the world. The actions of Mr. Pitsul should be viewed as the anomaly it is.”