Warrant issued for Shooting of St. Charles Man

A warrant was issued Monday in connection with .

According to the St. Charles County Circuit Court's Criminal Division, the arrest warrant charges Paul J. Morrison, 44, of Wentzville, with first-degree assault. 

Morrison was already in the St. Charles County Jail, having turned himself into police Friday. According to Lt. Craig McGuire of the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department, Morrison gave investigators a statement implicating himself in the crime.

Morrison allegedly shot his estranged wife's boyfriend in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve.  According to the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department, the shooting occurred before 5 a.m. Friday, Dec. 24.

Other news outlets have identified the victim as Dennis Vehlewald. 

"At 5:16 a.m. we received a call to come to  in Lake Saint Louis," said McGuire. "The call was in response to a gun shot victim."

McGuire said when deputies arrived on the scene, in the 400 block of Guthrie, the victim was coherent and could speak with authorities. 

The victim told deputies he and his girlfriend, along with another male friend, had been Christmas shopping in the early morning hours. As they pulled into the long driveway upon arriving at the girlfriend's home, her husband pulled a gun on the pickup truck carrying the trio.

McGuire said the victim, a 42-year-old man from the 2300 block of Fox Creek in St. Charles, was shot through the passenger side window. He was hit in the back of the head and side of the face as the pickup truck was pulling away.

The victim's male friend was behind the wheel and the woman was sitting between them. No one else was injured.

"Everybody knows everybody here," McGuire said. "There was no question about anyone's identity." 

McGuire said the victim was transferred to a hospital in the St. Louis area in serious but not life-threatening condition.