Electric Avenue gunshot leads to suspended sentence

A Bigfork man was given a suspended jail sentence on Tuesday for firing a gun in his neighborhood.

Bradley Welsh pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of negligent endangerment as part of a plea agreement that amended original charges of felony criminal endangerment.

Welsh, 31, admitted on the witness stand that he fired a gun on Nov. 15, 2015, at his residence on Electric Avenue. Welsh and his attorney established that Welsh had “caused some risk of harm to other people in the area,” although he fired the gun from his balcony into the ground.

According to court documents, deputies were called to Electric Avenue the morning of the incident after his girlfriend called dispatch.

She said Welsh had come home drunk at 2 a.m. He allegedly went to the couple’s bedroom and began loading his .40-caliber handgun.

Welsh allegedly said he “wanted to shoot someone” and fired a round from the gun toward Electric Avenue and several homes.

The deputy found the .40 caliber handgun and a spent casing in the couple’s bedroom.

Prosecutor Alison Howard said that as part of the plea agreement, Welsh was required to complete a chemical dependency evaluation.

“I would ask the court that he follow all recommendations in the chemical dependency evaluation,” Howard said.

Flathead District Judge David Ortley imposed that condition as part of Welsh’s one-year suspended jail sentence. “You are to remain law-abiding in all respects,” Ortley told Welsh.

Welsh was ordered to pay $575 in court fines and fees.