BENTON COUNTY, Arkansas – Two Arkansas neighbors were arrested Monday after one of them was injured as they took turns shooting each other while wearing a bullet-resistant vest, a newspaper reported.
Charles Eugene Ferris, 50, and Christopher Hicks, 36, were arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported.
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Authorities became aware of the alleged assault after Ferris showed up at a hospital with a red spot on his chest, the Arkansas news outlet reported.
Initially, Ferris told authorities an elaborate story about how he was wearing a bullet-resistant vest because he protecting a man he called his "asset," and that the pair took fire, report states. But Ferris' wife told investigators another story. His wife told investigators Ferris and Hicks had been drinking on the deck of their home when she heard a gunshot.
Ferris, the report states, eventually came clean to authorities, telling them that he had Hicks, his neighbor, shoot him in the chest, then had Hicks put the vest on. Ferris said he was upset about getting shot and "unloaded the clip" on Hicks, who was wearing the vest at the time, according to the report. None of the five bullets fired at Hicks' back penetrated the vest, the Democrat Gazette reported.
Both were arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; however, the newspaper reported that neither man has been formally charged.