A 72-year-old woman from Mesa, Arizona, is facing charges after allegedly shooting her adult son during a dispute over his video game noise. The woman, Hazel Benson, reportedly shot her 38-year-old son in the stomach during an argument at their home near Higley Road and Main Street on a recent Saturday night. The son was immediately taken to the hospital, suffering from non-life-threatening injuries.
Mesa Police Department officers responded to the shooting incident around 8:50 p.m. The victim had sustained a single gunshot wound to the stomach. Benson is now facing charges of aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, and discharging a firearm within city limits.
Benson reportedly confessed to investigators that she had fired the weapon and subsequently discarded it in a canal. She stated that the argument had led her son to take a walk to cool off. Upon his return, he found Benson blocking the door.
Benson alleges that she shot her son as he lunged at her with clenched fists. She reportedly told the police that she was uncertain whether she had fired the gun once or multiple times.
Interestingly, the police had been called to Benson’s residence earlier in the evening for another service call. During this visit, Benson had expressed her frustration over the noise level caused by her son’s video gaming, according to the Mesa Police Department.
Benson’s neighbors expressed shock at the incident. One resident, Chris Hammound, said he heard three gunshots in quick succession. “I can’t imagine his mother shooting him,” Hammound said. Despite the shocking incident, Benson’s son is expected to make a full recovery after being hospitalized.