Felon ‘showing off’ with AR-15 sends bullet into stunned neighbor’s home, NC cops say

An unlucky felon is back behind bars in North Carolina after he started “showing off” an AR-15 and it fired through a neighbor’s home, according to the Asheville Police Department.

Convicted felons can’t possess firearms, but it was the stray bullet that got the attention of police.

AR-15 bullets travel at more than 3,100 feet per second, which means the projectile quickly made its way in Asheville’s Louisville Place neighborhood.

It was an unhappy neighbor who alerted police, just before 9 p.m. on Oct. 10, officials said. His identity was not revealed.

“Asheville Police Department officers responded to ... a gun discharge call that came in from a homeowner ... stating a bullet hole had just appeared in his wall,” police said in a release. “After further investigation officers were able to determine that the stray bullet came from the home of a neighbor.”

The neighbor, Christopher Allen Ducker, told police he “was showing off an AR-15 to his friends and accidentally fired the gun,” police said.

“The round went through his wall, through a privacy fence, and then ultimately ended up in his neighbor’s wall,” officials said.

Police seized a 5.56 Ruger AR-15 and a .308 Remington bolt-action rifle at Ducker’s home, officials said.

Ducker was charged with discharge of a firearm in the city, possession of a firearm by a felon, and discharging a weapon into occupied property, police said.

He was at the Buncombe County Detention Center on Friday, “on a $30,000 secured bond,” officials said.

This story was originally published October 15, 2021 at 6:40 PM.