Police say man brandished, fired sawed-off shotgun during dispute

Published 3:44 pm Tuesday, March 20, 2018

A Carter County man faces multiple charges after police say he brandished a sawed-off shotgun during a domestic disturbance and fired the weapon.

Deputies of the Carter County Sheriff’s Office arrested Dustin Lee Canter, 34, 179 Taylor Ave., Elizabethton, on Monday and charged him with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of reckless endangerment.

According to court documents, shortly before 5 p.m. on Friday, deputies of the CCSO responded to Canter’s home on Taylor Avenue on a report of someone at the residence firing a shotgun. When officers arrived at the home, they were met by Stephen Perrigan who told them Canter was armed inside of a pickup truck behind the residence and was attempting to flee the scene.

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CCSO Deputy Josh Riddle and Deputy Roger Brown walked into the backyard where Riddle said they saw Canter in a truck driving toward the road. Riddle said he and Brown ordered Canter to stop the truck and exit the vehicle. The deputies then detained Canter until the incident could be investigated according to Riddle.

“Mr. Canter then advised that he had an airsoft rifle inside of the bed of the truck and that he did not have any other weapons,” Riddle said.

According to Riddle, Canter told the officer it was his home and his ex-girlfriend Sunny Perrigan had told him that her husband, Stephen Perrigan, was going to assault him.

Sunny Perrigan told officers she was the one who called 911 about the incident.

“Mrs. Perrigan stated that Mr. Canter came into the residence and pointed a sawed-off shotgun in the direction of Mr. Perrigan who was standing between Mrs. Perrigan and Mr. Canter,” Riddle said. “She then continued to say that Mr. Canter then exited the residence out of the front door, and fired a shot from the shotgun.”

Sunny Perrigan told officers she is married to Stephen Perrigan but they are temporarily separated and that she had just ended “a boyfriend-girlfriend type relationship” with Canter, according to Riddle.

Stephen Perrigan told officers he was at work when his wife called him. He told officers he left work and went to the home at 179 Taylor Avenue because Sunny Perrigan was crying when she called and because he has a child who was also staying at the residence.

“Mr. Perrigan stated that shortly after he arrived to the residence of 179 Taylor Avenue, Mr. Canter came into the residence and pointed a single-barrel sawed-off shotgun at his face,” Riddle said, adding Stephen Perrigan also said Canter fired the weapon after walking out of the home.

Riddle said while he was speaking with Stephen Perrigan and Sunny Perrigan, CCSO Deputy Robert Hughes informed him Canter had admitted to having the sawed-off shotgun and said he placed it inside of a barrel in the backyard of the home.

Officers then recovered the weapon and found it contained a spent shell casing and observed the serial number had been scraped off of the shotgun.

At that time, Riddle said he placed Canter under arrest and transported him to the Carter County Detention Center. Riddle said deputies also contacted federal agents regarding the sawed-off shotgun and the federal officers said they would be investigating the matter.