Police: couple arguing over TV show
leads to woman being shot in her back
What started out as a disagreement on two QWERTY keyboards ended in a 26-year-old woman being shot on Marcellus Road in Williston Park, police revealed at a press briefing on Tuesday, Dec. 4. Jared Gurman, 26, was charged with second-degree attempted murder after the 2:40 a.m. shooting.
Lt. Ray Cote of the Third Squad said the argument sparked during a discussion of the AMC television show The Walking Dead while the two were together on the night of Sunday, Dec. 2. According to Cote, Gurman was growing concerned over the idea that a possible real-life situation, like a military accident, could occur resulting in catastrophe.
His girlfriend became concerned after text message exchanges, Cote noted. Police said after Gurman and the victim were texting, the woman drove to his home in Williston Park to hash out the argument in person. When she arrived, Gurman was seen holding a .22 caliber rifle, authorities stated.
“I don’t know [The Walking Dead],” Cote said. “I’m not the right person to discuss it. I just know he felt very adamant that there could be some type of military mishap that could result in some sort of virus or something.”
Gurman did not want the woman to go to the apartment, but against his wishes she went anyway, said Cote. The woman attempted to calm the situation, but after entering the dwelling, Gurman shot her once in the back at the top of the stairs leading to his apartment, according to police.
The victim had picked Gurman up and brought him home, police said. He a has prior arrest for DWI in 2007. Cote said Gurman told police that “he pointed the weapon at her and…he fired the weapon.”
Authorities did not confirm nor deny if Gurman was threatening suicide. Cote said there was “some drinking involved.”
“The argument got to such an argumentative point where the young lady decided she did not want to spend the night at his place,” Cote stated. “He did not want to let it go and continued to text dialogue with her wherein it got even more angry and bitter, to the point where the young lady felt he was perhaps going over the edge.”
Gurman drove the victim to North Shore LIJ in New Hyde Park, where he was arrested. The woman is in stable condition, police said.
“She tried to diffuse the situation and calm him down and told him, ‘Let’s just go to bed,’” Cote said of the moment before she was shot.
The victim, according to Cote, suffered a shattered rib, a pierced diaphragm and lung. Cote said Gurman attempted to portray the event as an “accidental shooting.”
“Physicians had difficulty controlling the bleeding,” Cote stated. “Originally she had to be removed from the first hospital to another one.”
Police confiscated two additional guns and the one he used in his apartment, along with 12 volumes of the show’s comic book version, Cote said.
