KEARNS, Utah — One man is dead and another is in jail after the pair of friends were messing around with a handgun early Sunday morning, leading to the victim being shot in the chest.
The pair of friends were in a house in Kearns when the victim said he could "dodge a bullet," and then the suspect pulled the trigger, thinking the gun was unloaded.
According to Unified Police, Ashton Jonathon Mann and Dylan Treichel, both age 23, were hanging out in a home near 5200 S. Charlotte Avenue around 12:30 a.m. when the shooting occurred.
Officers said they arrived at the home and found Treichel on the floor of the garage, unresponsive with a gunshot wound to his chest. Officers and first responders attempted life-saving measures, but Treichel died at the hospital.
Mann cooperated with the investigation and said he and Treichel had smoked marijuana around 8 p.m. Saturday night. He said they were inside the house playing video games and talking about guns, then went out to the garage to continue talking without waking anyone else up.
In the garage, Mann said they were handling two handguns when Treichel "said he can dodge a bullet," according to the arrest report. They then unloaded the guns, and Mann pointed one of the guns at Treichel and pulled the trigger. Mann said Treichel would "jump out of the way to prove he could move before the trigger was pulled." Mann said they did this about six times before a round was fired from the gun, hitting Treichel in the chest.
Mann called 911 and administered aid until first responders arrived.
Mann was booked on a 2nd-degree felony count of manslaughter and a 3rd-degree count of "restricted person transaction [of a] firearm." He is being held without bail.
