This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Weber County prosecutors Tuesday filed a charge of first-degree attempted murder against an Ogden man who allegedly shot and critically wounded a female acquaintance over the weekend.

The 27-year-old man, who purportedly told police he shot the 28-year-old victim in the belief it would end a severe headache he was suffering, was being held without bail in the Weber County Jail.

In addition to the attempted murder count, he was charged in 2nd District Court with third-degree felony possession of a firearm by a restricted person; and class B misdemeanor counts of possession of a control substance (marijuana) and possession of drug paraphernalia (a methamphetamine pipe).

The woman remained in critical condition Tuesday at an Ogden hospital, but her life signs had reportedly been stabilized, police said.

A probable cause affidavit states the shooting occurred about 2 a.m. Sunday inside a basement apartment in the 900 block of Orchard Avenue. Neighbors called 911 after hearing the gunshot and responding officers allegedly found the suspect hiding in a nearby drainage ditch, a 9mm handgun still in his possession.

Court documents state that during questioning, the suspect admitted shooting the woman.

"He stated that his head began to hurt, whereupon he believed that the only way to ease the pain in his head was to shoot [her]," the probable cause statement claimed. "[He] believed that by shooting [her] she would die, and the pain in his head would cease."

The suspect is scheduled to appear before Judge Michael Direda on April 4.

Twitter: @remims