By Susan Bromley
Special Writer for The Review
A man who fired a gun through a wall of his Brandon Township home while discussing the pending divorce with his wife, is facing charges.
Zonnie Jay Fritsche, 46, formally a reserve police officer for the Village of Lake Orion, was arrainged on a single count of reckless discharge of a firearm on March 21 in front of 52-2 District Court Magistrate Elizabeth Chiappelli.
According to reports, Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the Stanton Road home on Nov. 18. The 9-1-1 caller, Fritsche’s wife, said her soon-to-be ex-husband had discharged a handgun inside their home and into a bedroom wall. She did not know if it was accidental or not. She was sitting on the bed in the master bedroom while she and Fritsche discussed the division of property. Their two daughters, 10 and 7, were in another room in the home. The complainant said Fritsche was in and out of the bedroom while they talked, pacing up and down the hallway. She asked him to take their youngest daughter to a friend’s house and while he was out of the room, she heard the gun go off. He was standing in the doorway, with gunsmoke surrounding him, she said.
During an interview with police, Fritsche said he was not trying to hurt his wife, that the gun misfired while he was putting it in his waistband. Fritsche had a valid license to carry a concealed weapon. Deputies removed 38 assorted handguns and long guns from the home as a precautionary measure.
The Oakland County Gun Board was advised fo the investigation and valid PPO and his CPL was suspended in January. Fritsche was released on a $1,000 personal bond. A pre-trial conference was scheduled for Monday.