A Wisconsin man is accused of shooting his own father on Father’s Day after an argument over gun safety and gun laws turned violent, authorities said.
Connor Zastrow, 25, has been charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide with a domestic abuse modifier in connection with the shooting of his father.
The disturbing incident happened around 3 p.m. on Father’s Day, after Zastrow’s father and his girlfriend returned home from lunch, according to a criminal complaint.
When they arrived, they allegedly found Zastrow sitting on the front porch with a gun held to his chest.
The father and son then began arguing, according to the complaint. The father’s girlfriend told police she went inside to use the bathroom and heard the argument getting louder. She said she heard Zastrow’s father talking about “gun laws” before the situation escalated.
According to the complaint, Zastrow’s father tried to take the firearm away from him. That is when shots were fired.
Zastrow later called 911 and reported that he had shot his father, authorities said.
When officers arrived, they found the victim lying on the ground outside. He had been shot twice in the abdomen, according to the complaint.
At a hearing on Wednesday, June 24, Court Commissioner Christopher Bailey described the allegations in stark terms.
“He was trying to kill this person,” Bailey said, according to WISN. “In fact, he showed no remorse, no reaction to doing this to a person, that on the day it happened, you would think he would be unlikely to do it, but he did. He fired at this person three times.”
After the shooting, Zastrow was escorted to a police car, where he allegedly told an officer he was “kind of hurt.” He showed officers a minor cut on his left arm and said his left shoulder and head hurt, according to the complaint.
Police later searched Zastrow’s bedroom and found an AR-15-style rifle on his bed. They also found an AR-style rifle in the trunk of his vehicle, the complaint states.
On the way to the hospital, Zastrow’s father allegedly told police, “The kid is not right.”
The victim said his son had been acting strangely over the past few months, though he did not give more detail, according to the complaint.
He also told officers that Zastrow owned multiple firearms and that he had confronted him about his lack of gun safety.
According to the complaint, the father told Zastrow that he was going to take his guns and that he could no longer have them. When the father tried to take the gun, Zastrow allegedly punched him on the left side of the face, causing pain and leaving a visible mark.
Zastrow then allegedly fired the handgun that was in his lap toward his father.
During an interview with detectives, Zastrow allegedly acknowledged that he knew shooting his father could have killed him. However, he allegedly said that based on where he shot him, he believed it would likely hurt him rather than kill him.
The complaint says Zastrow told detectives he wanted to leave and go skating or “do something fun,” and that he felt the only way to make that happen was to shoot his father.
When a detective asked why he shot him, Zastrow allegedly replied, “I was just disturbed or homicidal, I guess.”
Zastrow is being held on a $500,000 bond.
His attorney could not be reached for comment.
A 25 year old shouldn’t be living with his dad, hopefully he’ll go to prison and when he gets out, his dad will be living somewhere where he can’t be found by this wacko.
These kids are wackos! Check him for drugs. No respect for life. Probably never got any discipline at home.