Man charged after shooting at mouse, striking roommate in chest

A Taylorsville man faces a felony firearms charge after he tried to shoot a mouse but accidentally shot his roommate instead.

Christian Sunil Paul, 27, said he fired his 9 mm gun into his pantry in an attempt to kill a mouse Dec. 20, 2011, at 2584 W. Brucemont Drive, police wrote in charges filed Monday. The bullet passed through the wall and into the bathroom, where it struck the man's roommate in the chest. The roommate was hospitalized in serious condition.

In a subsequent search of the house, officers found empty balloons and burnt foil in Paul's bathroom garbage can; he was charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia and felony discharge of a firearm with injury.

During the same search, police found a 13-year-old girl hiding in the basement. The girl said she had been having sex with a third roommate in the house. Paul Daniel Kunzler, 34, was charged in December with two counts of rape of a child, three counts of sodomy on a child and three counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, all first-degree felonies. He also was charged with two second-degree felony counts of sex abuse of a child.