Two men have been arrested in Arkansas after they shot at each other with firearms while wearing bulletproof vests.
Charles Eugene Ferris and Christopher Hicks were arrested on Monday, April 1, on charges of aggravated assault.
Deputy Dorian Hendrix, of the Benton County sheriff's department, visited Ferris Mercy Hospital on Sunday, March 31, to interview a man who had sustained some mysterious injuries. Ferris, the patient in question, allegedly told the deputy he had been shot six times, once in the chest and five times in the back, while protecting another man from harm.
The bullets had not penetrated him, because he'd been wearing a bulletproof vest at the time. The deputy thought the story was implausible, not least because the facts were rather muddled.
However, when Hendrix spoke to Leslie, Ferris' wife, she told him that her spouses' tale of heroism was total baloney.
Mrs Ferris said her husband had been out on the deck of their house the previous night with their neighbour Hicks. She'd left the men to their own devices, believing that they were intoxicated but not liabilities when she suddenly heard a gunshot.
She went outside and found her husband lying on the ground, with an angry red mark on his chest. He later complained about the injury and went to the hospital.
When Hendrix questioned Ferris a second time and pointed out the inconsistencies in his version of events, the man sheepishly admitted he made up the story because he didn't want to implicate Hicks in something serious. Apparently, the two men had been very drunk, when Ferris, wearing the kevlar vest, challenged Hicks to shoot him to prove its bullet resistance.
Hicks shot Ferris in the chest one time with a .22- calibre semi-automatic rifle, which apparently hurt him quite a lot. Angered by his injuries, Ferris then proceeded to "unload the clip" with the remaining five rounds, shooting into his friend's back once he'd donned the body armour. Thankfully, none of the rounds penetrated the vest, despite the close range the shots had been fired at.
After he admitted what really happened, Ferris was released from the hospital and arrested, before deputies arrested Hicks as well. The authorities also seized the rifle and vest involved in the incident. The two men were released on a citation from the Benton County jail on Tuesday morning and are awaiting their arraignments, due to take place on May 13.
