A Gouldsboro man faces simple assault, terroristic threats and other charges after he hit his son over the head with a small handgun, state police said.

John Howard Henry Jr., 54, 31 Locust Lane, Big Bass Lake, was arrested Sunday afternoon after Trooper Richard Grippi responded to his home on a reported domestic incident involving a firearm, police said.

Henry's son, John Howard Henry III, told police his father became angry at him for not cleaning up in the kitchen and the two argued. Police did not release the age of the son.

The elder Henry went to his bedroom and retrieved a small gun, described in the arrest affidavit as a silver .38-caliber pistol, the son told police. His father hit him on the back of the head with the weapon before the two began to wrestle in the bedroom.

Kathleen Henry, the elder Henry's wife, told police her husband initially invited their son to go outside and fight, but changed his mind after going into the bedroom to get dressed.

"I'm putting an end to this right now. I'm putting a bullet in him. I'm going to jail for murder," she quoted her husband as saying, according to the affidavit.

When she entered the bedroom, she said her husband had taken a gun from the closet and was trying to unlock it, she told police.

She said her husband hit her son three times with the pistol before she was able to take it away from him as the two wrestled, the affidavit said.

During a search of John Henry Jr.'s vehicle, investigators found suspected marijuana, along with drug paraphernalia, state police said.

The elder Henry was held in the Lackawanna County Prison on $30,000 bail after his arraignment before Magisterial District Judge Theodore Giglio.

His preliminary hearing is scheduled Nov. 28 at 10:15 a.m.

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dsingleton@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9132