A man has been arrested for allegedly shooting his girlfriend during a heated argument over the television show "The Walking Dead," authorities say.
Jared Gurman, 26, was charged with attempted murder after shooting his girlfriend with a .22-caliber rifle at his Williston Park, N.Y., home early Monday morning, police said Tuesday.
The unidentified woman suffered a pierced lung, shattered rib and pierced diaphragm. She is in stable condition.
According to Nassau County police, Gurman was out with his girlfriend when the two began arguing over "The Walking Dead," a television cable drama about a man who wakes from a coma to a world dominated by zombies. Gurman apparently felt strongly that a "military mishap" could occur on the show.
"He felt very adamant," Detective Lt. Raymond Cote said at a news conference Tuesday. "There could be military mishap that would result in some sort of virus being released that could cause a terrible thing to happen."
The argument became so heated the woman decided she didn't want to spend the night with Gurman and would drop him off at his home.
"She felt it was ridiculous," said Cote. "He's passionate about it. And it escalated to the point it did."
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After she brought Gurman home, he continued to argue with her by text message, authorities said. The dialogue became so "angry and bitter," according to police, that the woman felt compelled to return to his home to check on him.
When she arrived at about 2:30 a.m., she found him outside the door with a .22-caliber rifle.
"She tried to defuse the situation, to calm him down," said Cote. "She was walking up the stairs when Mr. Gurman raised the rifle, pointed it at her and fired one round into her back, causing serious injury."
The woman pleaded with Gurman for help, and he brought her to the hospital to be treated, police said. Gurman initially told police the shooting was accidental but later admitted it was not.
The couple had been dating for about three and a half to four years, according to Cote. Gurman had three long guns in his home, which have since been seized, and was described by police as "passionate" about weapons.
NBC 4 New York left a message with Gurman's attorney.
