Woman charged with shooting gun in her home while intoxicated

CHIPPEWA FALLS — A Chippewa Falls woman accused of firing a gun in her home while she was intoxicated in July has now been charged.

Samantha M. Harkey, 44, 520 Terrace Drive, was charged in Chippewa County Court with first-degree recklessly endangering safety and operating a firearm while intoxicated.

At a bond hearing last month, Judge James Isaacson released Harkey on a signature bond, and set a return court date for today. As terms of her release, she cannot consume alcohol or have any contact with children without approval. She also must comply with a Department of Health Services commitment.

According to the criminal complaint, police were called to the Mayo Clinics Health System hospital in Eau Claire on July 28 for a report of a suicide threat.

The caller said “Harkey was intoxicated and attempted to shoot herself but missed.”

Harkey was not injured, and she agreed to go to the hospital voluntarily.

The male caller told police that Harkey has been depressed for several months, since the death of her mother; Harkey had been seeing a counselor.

Harkey had consumed multiple alcoholic drinks that evening, and she knew where a gun was concealed in their home. He said Harkey was alone in the bedroom when she fired the gun. Two children were in the home but did not see anything, although they heard the shot.

The man told police that the shot Harkey fired entered a wall toward one of the the child’s bedrooms. The man told police he took the gun, a 9 mm, apart and placed the components in separate areas.

Online court records show Harkey has never been charged with a crime in Wisconsin before.