An attorney for Adam Garber, 34, Minot, is arguing that it was actually Garber’s ex-girlfriend’s son who fired a shot that traveled through the wall of a trailer and entered the wall of a neighboring trailer on Sept. 23.

Garber pleaded not guilty to Class C felony charges of terrorizing and reckless endangerment and Class B misdemeanor simple assault – domestic violence on Thursday in district court.

Garber had allegedly gotten into a dispute with his ex-girlfriend when he went over to her trailer to collect his belongings. She and her children claim that Garber assaulted her, brandished a handgun and pointed it at her children and that the gun discharged and the bullet went through the wall of the trailer and into an occupied trailer next door. The gun allegedly went off when Garber hit himself in the head with the gun while he was facing a mirror.

The defense attorney asked the Ward County deputy who testified at the preliminary hearing whether Garber said he had been pistol whipped. The deputy acknowledged he had. His ex-girlfriend’s son had reportedly told Garber not to shoot his mother and Garber said he wasn’t going to shoot the woman and handed over the gun to the son.

Garber’s defense attorney, Benjamin Migdal, also noted that the woman’s son has two previous convictions for aggravated assault and is a felon who is not allowed to possess a handgun.

Judge Gary Lee found probable cause to let the case go forward and said the facts of the case are for a jury to decide.