Man Charged After Being Caught on Camera Pointing Weapon at Marion Residence

A man was charged after being caught on security camera pointing a weapon inside a home in Marion, North Carolina on the evening of Saturday, March 23, the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office said.

The man, who was later identified as 29-year-old Tyler Messer, was charged with assault by pointing a gun, two counts of stalking, and two counts of trespassing, authorities said.

The owners of the house, Billy Brooks and Preston McHone, both posted on Facebook the security footage showing Messer pointing what McHone described as “an assault type rifle” at their house.

“He is seen aiming into the home which is at the back of my partner’s head. I’m in the kitchen to his right. He attempts to fire his weapon and then turn to shoot me, but his weapon misfires,” McHone told Storyful.

McHone said that Messer had previously been at the house asking about his father, and that his last interaction with him was over a year before “when on a third occasion he arrived with a ‘step dad’ asking about his bio-father.”

“There was no interaction in the time after that until Saturday night at 1113 when he approached the back entrance of our home to carry out his plan to murder us both,” McHone wrote on Facebook.

According to news reports, Messer was convinced McHone and Brooks were running a child sex ring out of their house together with his father.

Notes from a Magistrate Bail Explanation Form obtained by the media defined Messer as “delusional” and “mentally ill”. Credit: Preston McHone via Storyful

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