Bend man wounded by gunshot at kids’ birthday party
(Update: Adding victim’s name, suspect’s mugshot, bail amount)
A man who showed up at the St. Charles Bend ER with a gunshot wound to the leg Saturday night prompted an investigation that led to the arrest of another man who unintentionally fired the shot during a children’s birthday party at his home, police said.
Officers were notified shortly before 9 p.m. that a 39-year-old man had come to the hospital’s Emergency Department with a gunshot wound, said Bend police Sgt. Juli McConkey.
Investigating officers learned the man, Michael Mostek, was at a children’s birthday party when he was unintentionally shot by Beau Lewis, 37, of Bend, at Lewis’s home, McConkey said.
Mostek was taken by private vehicle to the hospital for treatment. McConkey said Lewis, who was intoxicated, drove to the hospital to check on the gunshot victim, then back home, where he hid the gun before officers arrived.
Police contacted Lewis at his home and the gun was taken as evidence, the sergeant said.
Lewis was arrested and taken to the Deschutes County Jail on charges of reckless endangering, second-degree assault, DUII, tampering with evidence and negligently wounding another. Bail was set at $67,500.
“The Bend Police Department wants to remind everyone to treat all firearms as if they are loaded,” McConkey wrote in a news release, adding, “Please keep all firearms away from the reach of children.”