Man, 80, accused of shooting door-to-door salesman who stopped to ask for water

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AZFamily/Gray News) - An 80-year-old Arizona man allegedly shot a door-to-door salesman in his neighborhood following a confrontation, leaving the victim without feeling in his legs.

Patrick McBride, 80, is facing felony charges of aggravated assault causing serious physical injury. He is accused of shooting a door-to-door salesman who had stopped at his home to ask for water after getting into a confrontation with the man.

Scottsdale Police were called to reports of a shooting in a gated community shortly after 4 p.m. Sunday. They found the victim suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to the hospital, where he remains in stable condition with a spinal injury, according to court documents.

Salesman had stopped to ask for water

The victim had been going door-to-door offering a window-washing service and stopped at McBride’s home in the gated community to ask for water, documents say.

McBride told investigators he grew suspicious of the man and told him he wasn’t allowed in the private community. As the man left, McBride said he pointed his phone toward the home, which McBride believed meant he was being photographed or recorded.

The victim left on an electric Segway he’d been using to get around the neighborhood but told police he stayed in the area because he thought he’d lost his wallet and wanted to search for it.

About 10 minutes later, McBride reportedly told detectives that he and his wife split up to make sure the man had actually left the community. She drove in one direction while he walked in the other, carrying a handgun.

Court documents say McBride spotted the victim and yelled at him to leave. What happened next is disputed.

Conflicting accounts of the confrontation

McBride told police the victim rode toward him on the Segway and raised his phone. Fearing the man was “going to do something,” McBride reportedly said he drew his gun, and it fired as the two made contact.

McBride claimed he didn’t realize the victim had been shot and told him twice to get up and leave, to which the victim replied that he could not move, court documents state.

The victim gave a different account, telling police he saw McBride pull the handgun and was turning to leave when he was shot in the back. Police confirmed he had been shot in his lower back.

McBride stayed at the scene afterward, and his wife applied towels to the victim’s wound before paramedics arrived, police said.

As officers arrived on scene, McBride reportedly walked up to them and made several comments, including, “He shouldn’t be in this neighborhood” and “He made a move at me, I told him to leave,” before he was detained, court documents state.

Potential for a misfire

Investigators say McBride’s handgun, which was holstered on his hip, was found with a cracked, partially broken trigger guard. He also had a shell casing in his pocket, which he told police he’d picked up to “preserve evidence.”

McBride, a former U.S. Air Force Academy attendee with handgun and rifle training, was previously a member of the Scottsdale Gun Club. He told detectives he did not intend to shoot the victim.

The investigation is ongoing.

Suspect claims self-defense

McBride claimed self-defense, telling police he was fearful the victim would do something. However, unaffiliated attorney Ben Taylor said that defense could be difficult to prove in court.

“Two wrongs don’t make a right,” Taylor said. “The fact that this person went back into his house to retrieve a gun and then walked outside to try to hunt the man down — when you’re hunting somebody down, that shows that you’re not really doing self-defense, that you’re trying to intentionally hurt somebody.”

Addressing the community’s “no trespassing” and “no solicitation” signs, Taylor noted that while the victim could potentially face a misdemeanor trespassing charge, lethal force was not justified.

“Just because a person’s trespassing on your property doesn’t give you the right to go out there and shoot them unless they’re trying to threaten you,” Taylor said.

During McBride’s initial court appearance, a judge set his bond at $150,000.