SCOTTSDALE, AZ (AZFamily) — An 80-year-old man allegedly shot a door-to-door salesman following a confrontation Sunday in a gated north Scottsdale community, leaving the victim without feeling in his legs.
Patrick McBride was arrested on charges of aggravated assault and disorderly conduct involving a weapon, according to the Scottsdale Police Department.
Shortly after 4 p.m., first responders were called to reports of a shooting in a neighborhood on 86th Road, near Pima Road and Stage Coach Pass.
Officers arrived and found the victim suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to a hospital, where he remains in stable condition with a spinal injury, according to court documents.
Salesman had stopped to ask for water
The victim had been going door-to-door offering a window-washing service and stopped at McBride’s home in the gated community to ask for water, documents said.
McBride told investigators he grew suspicious of the man and told him he wasn’t allowed in the private community. As the man left, McBride said, he pointed his phone toward the home, which McBride believed meant he was being photographed or recorded.
The victim left on an electric Segway he’d been using to get around the neighborhood but told police he stayed in the area because he thought he’d lost his wallet and wanted to search for it.
About 10 minutes later, McBride reportedly told detectives, he and his wife split up to make sure the man had actually left the community — she drove in one direction while he walked the other, carrying a handgun. Court documents say McBride spotted the victim and yelled at him to leave.
Conflicting accounts of the confrontation
What happened next is disputed.
McBride told police the man rode toward him on the Segway and raised his phone. Fearing the man was “going to do something,” McBride reportedly said he drew his gun, and it fired as the two made contact.
McBride claimed that he didn’t realize the victim had been shot and told him twice to get up and leave, to which the victim replied that he could not move, court documents state.
The victim gave a different account, telling police he saw McBride pull the black handgun and was turning to leave when he was shot in the back. Police confirmed he had been shot in his lower back.
McBride stayed at the scene afterward, and his wife applied towels to the victim’s wound before paramedics arrived, police said.
As officers arrived on scene, McBride reportedly walked up to them and made several comments, including, “He shouldn’t be in this neighborhood” and “He made a move at me, I told him to leave,” before he was detained, court documents state.
Potential for a misfire
Investigators say McBride’s handgun, which was holstered on his hip, was found with a cracked, partially broken trigger guard. He also had a shell casing in his pocket, which he told police he’d picked up to “preserve evidence.”
McBride, a former U.S. Air Force Academy attendee with handgun and rifle training, was previously a member of the Scottsdale Gun Club. He told detectives he did not intend to shoot the victim.
McBride was arrested at the scene. Police say there are no outstanding suspects and believe this was an isolated incident, with no ongoing threat to the community. The investigation is continuing.
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