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No mention of the caliber of gun involved. Another article claimed the shooter was also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon:
Suspect arraigned in shooting of sleeping girl
By Matt Breslow
Staff Writer
Published December 17 2005
NORWALK -- A city man accused of firing a bullet through his apartment floor, striking a girl sleeping in the unit below, was arraigned yesterday and held on $300,000 bond.
The mother of the 15-year-old victim, who is recovering, yesterday described the ordeal and her daughter's lingering pain and fears.
"She doesn't want to go in her room," said the mother, who declined to be identified. "She's scared."
Their upstairs neighbor -- 24-year-old Michael Beckett -- was arrested several hours after the shooting, which occurred early Thursday at 135 Flax Hill Road, in the Ben Franklin Gardens condominium complex. Beckett, aka Michael Easton, was charged with first-degree assault, criminal use of a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm and first-degree reckless endangerment.
He was initially held on $200,000 bond. Judge William Holden raised the amount to $300,000 at the suspect's arraignment at state Superior Court.
Speaking to reporters at her condo, the victim's mother said neither she nor her daughter heard a gunshot before the girl awoke. The Brien McMahon High School freshman was screaming and complaining of back pain, her mother recalled.
The mother saw a wound in her daughter's back and thought she might have been poked by a mattress spring or pen. They went to Norwalk Hospital, where X-rays revealed a bullet, the mother said. She couldn't believe the doctor.
"I thought he was wrong," she said.
The mother said she and her daughter started screaming when told about the bullet. City police said Norwalk Hospital notified them at about 12:30 a.m. Thursday that a shooting victim was being treated in the emergency room.
Meanwhile, the mother wondered how her daughter could have been shot while sleeping in her bed. She assumed the bullet had passed through a window.
The mother hadn't thought to look up before going to the hospital, but returned home in the morning and saw the bullet hole in the ceiling of her daughter's bedroom, she said.
The bullet entered the victim's right shoulder, traveled across her body and lodged in her left shoulder, her mother said. She said the projectile will be removed if it bothers her daughter too much.
The girl returned home sometime after midnight yesterday, her mother said. She said her daughter is in pain, preventing her from lifting her right arm more than halfway, but is expected to recover fully. The victim is worried about whether she'll be able to play for the McMahon basketball team, and whether the bullet will move to another part of her body, her mother said.
The mother said she's seen Beckett in passing but didn't know his name and never had a problem with him. Saying her daughter "could have been dead," the mother expressed a desire to see Beckett go to prison for the incident.
Beckett was sentenced to prison, followed by probation, in February 2004 for offenses including second-degree larceny and possession of narcotics, according to court records.
Bail Commissioner Alphah East said Beckett was released Aug. 18 and still owes three years on his sentence. Beckett is on probation until 2010, East said.
Holden continued Beckett's case until Jan. 6.
Copyright © 2005, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.
Suspect arraigned in shooting of sleeping girl
By Matt Breslow
Staff Writer
Published December 17 2005
NORWALK -- A city man accused of firing a bullet through his apartment floor, striking a girl sleeping in the unit below, was arraigned yesterday and held on $300,000 bond.
The mother of the 15-year-old victim, who is recovering, yesterday described the ordeal and her daughter's lingering pain and fears.
"She doesn't want to go in her room," said the mother, who declined to be identified. "She's scared."
Their upstairs neighbor -- 24-year-old Michael Beckett -- was arrested several hours after the shooting, which occurred early Thursday at 135 Flax Hill Road, in the Ben Franklin Gardens condominium complex. Beckett, aka Michael Easton, was charged with first-degree assault, criminal use of a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm and first-degree reckless endangerment.
He was initially held on $200,000 bond. Judge William Holden raised the amount to $300,000 at the suspect's arraignment at state Superior Court.
Speaking to reporters at her condo, the victim's mother said neither she nor her daughter heard a gunshot before the girl awoke. The Brien McMahon High School freshman was screaming and complaining of back pain, her mother recalled.
The mother saw a wound in her daughter's back and thought she might have been poked by a mattress spring or pen. They went to Norwalk Hospital, where X-rays revealed a bullet, the mother said. She couldn't believe the doctor.
"I thought he was wrong," she said.
The mother said she and her daughter started screaming when told about the bullet. City police said Norwalk Hospital notified them at about 12:30 a.m. Thursday that a shooting victim was being treated in the emergency room.
Meanwhile, the mother wondered how her daughter could have been shot while sleeping in her bed. She assumed the bullet had passed through a window.
The mother hadn't thought to look up before going to the hospital, but returned home in the morning and saw the bullet hole in the ceiling of her daughter's bedroom, she said.
The bullet entered the victim's right shoulder, traveled across her body and lodged in her left shoulder, her mother said. She said the projectile will be removed if it bothers her daughter too much.
The girl returned home sometime after midnight yesterday, her mother said. She said her daughter is in pain, preventing her from lifting her right arm more than halfway, but is expected to recover fully. The victim is worried about whether she'll be able to play for the McMahon basketball team, and whether the bullet will move to another part of her body, her mother said.
The mother said she's seen Beckett in passing but didn't know his name and never had a problem with him. Saying her daughter "could have been dead," the mother expressed a desire to see Beckett go to prison for the incident.
Beckett was sentenced to prison, followed by probation, in February 2004 for offenses including second-degree larceny and possession of narcotics, according to court records.
Bail Commissioner Alphah East said Beckett was released Aug. 18 and still owes three years on his sentence. Beckett is on probation until 2010, East said.
Holden continued Beckett's case until Jan. 6.
Copyright © 2005, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.
