Aimless Argument

Apparently living with your brother can be a little stressful during the holidays.


HAINES FALLS -- A family blowout degraded into what State Police called a "Dodge City" shotgun battle between two Haines Falls brothers Sunday inside the home they shared.
Wesley N. Hall, 19, and Watson A. Hall, 21, were both in the Greene County Jail in lieu of $10,000 cash bail Sunday night after, authorities say, the two became incensed at each other sometime before 9 a.m., grabbed a shotgun each and opened fire.
Despite exchanging blasts from 12- and 20-gauge shotguns, neither brother was seriously injured, authorities said.
Both were cut by glass blown from a window and skylight destroyed in the gunplay.
"They got injured more from the glass that was in the house after their little escapades," said one law enforcement official, who asked that his name not be used.
Troopers received a call for shots fired and responded to the home to find one brother, Watson, already outside. He was taken into custody while authorities made phone contact with Wesley, who was still inside. He also surrendered.
Both were charged with felony first-degree reckless endangerment and misdemeanor menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.
Watson Hall also was charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of a controlled substance, though authorities declined to identify the substance pending test results.
At one point, Wesley appears to have had both shotguns, police said. But exactly what happened inside, and what they were fighting over, was not clear late Sunday. It also wasn't clear how many shots were fired inside what police called "a decent-size" house.
Asked if they were sharing the same cell, a jail official said: "They're not even in the same tier."