Eric Hunter Jones, 23, was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon and filing a false police report, among other charges. (Image courtesy of The Free Lance-Star)
A Virginia man was arrested and jailed on felony charges over the weekend after police say he shot himself in the leg and then blamed it on two Black men.
Spotsylvania County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a motel late Saturday night after receiving a report of a man being shot, according to The Free Lance-Star. There, they found 23-year-old Eric Hunter Jones with a single gun shot wound to his lower leg.
Jones told police two African-American men approached him outside the motel and claimed one of them shot him. After interviewing several witnesses, however, detectives determined that Jones had made the whole thing up and that he’d actually shot himself.
A thorough search of his motel room uncovered a stolen handgun, the Free Lance-Star reported. Jones was then taken to a local hospital for treatment and released into police custody.
He is charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, reckless handling of a firearm, felony receiving stolen property and filing a false police report. Jones was held in the Rappahannock Regional Jail with no bond.
