Jay Grossman

hometownlife.com

After a night of drinking with his girlfriend, followed by an argument in the morning between the two, Jaisen Clanagan got out his gun.

The Bloomfield Township man claims the .38 caliber revolver accidentally discharged as he was walking up the basement steps of the couple’s home, striking his girlfriend in the chest at the top of the stairway. Investigators believe otherwise.

“He said it was accidental. We are holding to the theory that it was not,” Detective Sgt. Weise said Friday.

Clanagan, 43, was arraigned Friday in 48th District Court on nine separate counts related to the June 29 shooting. He entered a not-guilty plea and is being held on a $250,000 cash/surety bond pending a July 14 pretrial hearing before Judge Diane D’Agostini.

Weise said the victim, 38, remains in stable condition at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.

The shooting occurred at the couple’s residence in the 1600 block of Winthrop Road. Investigators say family members and friends had been drinking alcohol at a party the night before the shooting and that the verbal argument between the couple escalated into a physical altercation between the two.

Weise said Clanagan, a family member and a friend at the house immediately provided first aid to the girlfriend. The friend drove the victim to St Joseph Mercy. Police first learned about the shooting when they were notified by the hospital that a woman was admitted at about 9 a.m. with a gunshot wound to the chest.

Weise said there is no history of police calls to the couple’s home. Clanagan is charged with three felonies, including assault with intent to do great bodily harm and assault with a dangerous weapon. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence and four counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Clanagan requested a court-appointed attorney at his arraignment. Police say he is cooperating with the investigation.

jgrossman@hometownlife.com

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