LINCOLNTON, N.C. (AP) - Police in North Carolina say they plan to charge a man with attempted murder after he shot his 7-year-old daughter and girlfriend and then fell off a cliff and into a quarry. But the man’s father said his son was drunk and doesn’t deserve the charges he’s facing.
Paul Lamkin Sr. told Charlotte’s Fox 46 on Thursday that his son Paul Lamkin Jr., 27, did not intentionally shoot his girlfriend and daughter in Lincoln County.
Lamkin Sr. said his was drunk and got an argument with his longtime girlfriend, who threatened to call the police when he tried to use the car.
Lamkin Sr. said his son then pulled out his gun to shoot in the air. But the bullets ricocheted into the home, hitting his daughter and his girlfriend.
“My granddaughter is alright,” Lamkin Sr. said. “He apologizes to her. He wants to apologize to her. He didn’t mean to shoot her, he wasn’t shooting at her. He was just mad.”
He said his son then ran into the woods out of shame - not to evade police - and fell 50 feet (15 meters) into a quarry. Lamkin Jr., his girlfriend and daughter are all recovering in a hospital.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said authorities plan to charge Lamkin Jr. with two counts of felony attempted murder and shooting into an occupied dwelling.
“I don’t want anyone to think my son just went crazy and tried to kill his kids, and kill his wife because that’s not how it happened at all,” his father said. “He’s pretty tore up about it, and he’s willing to suffer whatever.”
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