A West Des Moines man was arrested Friday after allegedly shooting a gun inside the home during a domestic dispute.
Christopher Louis Whalen, 35, of 605 S. Tiburon Cove, West Des Moines, was charged with first-offense domestic abuse assault-display or use of a weapon, intimidation with a dangerous weapon-injure/provoke fear and two counts of child endangerment.
The incident began about 10:15 p.m. Friday at a residence in the 600 block of Tiburon Cove, where officers of the West Des Moines Police Department responded to a report of a domestic disturbance involving a weapon.
The officers made contact with the victim, who told the officers that when she entered the bedroom in order to call 9-1-1, Whalen followed her and allegedly “discharged a firearm into the hallway wall from inside the bedroom,” according to court records.
The victim told the officers that Whalen allegedly fired the pistol in order “to scare her into hanging up the telephone,” according to court records.
Two minor children were asleep in the basement at the time of the alleged shooting.
Whalen is held in the Dallas County Jail on a $20,000 cash or surety bond. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing May 6 in Dallas County District Court.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
