Man charged in shooting at rural Peculiar residence that left three injured
A 40-year-old man faces seven felony charges in Cass County Circuit Court in connection with a triple shooting that unfolded early Sunday morning in Peculiar.
Thomas B. Parrish was charged Sunday with three counts of assault, three counts of armed criminal action and one count of unlawful weapon use. The charges stem from the shooting that unfolded early Sunday in the 7800 block of East 233rd Street.
According to court records, Cass County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Peculiar Police were dispatched just before 1 a.m. Sunday to a reported shooting. Arriving officers took Parrish into police custody there and three went to the hospital with gunshot wounds.
Two of the three shot were interviewed by police in the hospital.
One was Parrish’s brother, who described a conversation he was having in the residence’s garage with his girlfriend that evening about raising children. Then he saw his brother walking over toward his car parked on the east side of the driveway, court records say.
The brother said he followed Parrish to his car. Parrish then allegedly removed a handgun from under the passenger seat and shot him in the gut, the brother told police.
After being shot, a fight broke out between the men as the brother described putting his thumbs in Parrish’s eyes to restrain him. Two more were shot before he was separated from the gun, authorities allege, including the brother’s girlfriend.
Another described jumping on top of Parrish to get the gun away from him, saying she was shot in the process.
Witnesses also told police Parrish had been drinking that day and reported that he was highly intoxicated, according to court papers.
During a police interview that morning, Parrish allegedly admitted to pulling a gun on his brother. He allegedly said he was unhappy with “the way he was being yelled at and felt threatened” but declined to elaborate, a detective wrote in charging papers.
Parrish allegedly admitted to shooting his brother and said the gun “kept going off” during the struggle “and that’s when the other people got shot,” the detective wrote in the document.
As of Monday, Parrish was being held in the Cass County Jail without bond.
