A white West Virginia couple faces hate crime charges after being accused of threatening one Black man and shooting another Black man with a paintball gun.
According to a criminal complaint reported by affiliate NBC and ABC station, officials with the Weston Police Department in Lewis County received a complaint of a car that stopped near a residence whose occupants “started yelling racial slurs,”
ass="amp-ad-wrapper amp_ad_1 ampforwp-incontent-custom-banner ampforwp-incontent-ad1">A white male occupant of the vehicle, later identified by officials as 36-year-old Troy Pertuset, allegedly shot a paintball gun from the car, striking a Black male victim in the chest, WBOY-TV reported.
Moments later, authorities received a call about a dispute at a GoMart convenience store involving Pertuset with a gun, accompanied by a white female, later identified as 38-year-old Brandy Pertuset.
According to the reported complaint, the couple threatened a Black man inside the GoMart.
WBOY-TV reports that when officers spoke with the first victim at the Lewis County residence, he stated that Troy and Brandy had pulled up to the home and heard them say, “‘Where are you (expletive)?’”
Troy reportedly pointed the paintball gun at the Black victim and shot him, according to the complaint.
In the incident at the GoMart, a witness stated in the reported complaint that a separate Black victim was involved in a verbal dispute with Troy and Brandy, in which Brandy used racial slurs against the victim.
Brandy allegedly said, “‘I got a (expletive) pistol and I’m going to (expletive)
shoot you for talking to my wife,’” before Troy said, “‘I’m going to (expletive) kill this (expletive),’” according to WBOY-TV’s report from the complaint.Officials have charged Troy and Brandy with committing a hate crime and are reportedly being held on a $50,000 bond in Central Regional Jail in Braxton County, West Virginia.