CHATTANOOGA, TN– A homeowner is facing charges after she shot a homeless man she found near her backyard.
The incident was reported on Monday just before 4:30 a.m.
34-year-old Priscilla Teem told investigators that she was woken up by her dogs barking at someone near her property.
Teem viewed her security system and noticed a man walking just outside of her property line near her driveway, “carrying a tote full of items, and she personally believed they were stolen.” Teem and her mother went outside to tell him to leave.
According to the report, Teem verbally advised the homeless man to leave and then attempted to fire a warning shot.
The warning shot, however, struck the man in the ankle.
The man was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Authorities reported that the homeless man was not on Teem’s property and was about 60 feet away from Teem when the shot was fired.
Teem is facing one charge of aggravated assault “because, at the time of the shooting, the man posed no imminent threat.”