What to Know
- Nathan Matthias admitted he drunkenly fired a shotgun inside his Pennsylvania apartment because he feared there were clowns inside.
- Matthias' attorney says his client wasn't trying to harm anyone but was reacting to "some type of hallucinatory event."
- He faces up to 5 years in state prison after pleading guilty in July to discharging a firearm and to an unrelated drunken driving charge.
A Pennsylvania man who admitted he drunkenly fired a shotgun inside his apartment because he feared there were clowns inside could spend the next five years in prison.
Reading police didn't find anyone inside of 35-year-old Nathan Matthias' second-floor apartment, and say the shooting put his first-floor neighbor in danger. The Reading Eagle reports he was sentenced Monday to 22 months to five years in state prison after pleading guilty in July to discharging a firearm and to an unrelated drunken driving charge.
Police say they found Matthias clutching a shotgun outside his house, claiming he was trying to shoot two small clowns.
Matthias' attorney says his client wasn't trying to harm anyone but was reacting to "some type of hallucinatory event." Matthias took full responsibility and apologized.
