Calif. man pleads guilty in Sunriver New Year’s shooting

A California man who fired a gunshot at a Sunriver rental home early on New Year’s Day, injuring two people, pleaded guilty Thursday to two of the six charges against him, a prosecutor said.

Mikhail Pitsul, 21, of Antelope, California, pleaded guilty to one count each of pointing a firearm and another and recklessly endangering another, both Class A misdemeanors, said Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Brandi Shroyer. Sentencing is scheduled for next Tuesday.

Pitsul had faced five counts of recklessly endangering and one count of pointing a firearm in the incident that occurred at a rental home on Shagbark Lane.

District Attorney John Hummel said Pitsul and numerous friends and family members had rented the house for the holiday. Around 2 a.m., Pitsul “retrieved his loaded handgun and interjected himself into a verbal argument that two other people were having,” the DA said in a news release at the time of the formal indictment.

“A struggle ensued, the gun discharged, and two people were struck by the bullet,” Hummel said.

A California woman standing near the two men who were arguing was wounded and hospitalized. The shot then went through the floor and into the first-floor bedroom below, striking one of two people in bed. It did not penetrate but caused a minor injury, said Sunriver Police Chief Marc Mills.

Hummel confirmed alcohol was involved, calling alcohol and guns “the worst possible combination. The residents of this house were intoxicated, and a gun was the last thing they needed to be brought to the party.”