A Kwethluk man is being charged with the attempted murder of his uncle after a Thanksgiving Day hunting trip went bad.
According to court documents, Seth Michael, age 21, and his uncle, Jason Michael, were returning from hunting on Thursday when their snowmachine broke down outside Kwethluk. The men set out on foot to reach the village. Then, according to a State Trooper affidavit, while crossing a frozen lake, the uncle warned his nephew “to keep his distance while they crossed untested ice.” At this point, the uncle told troopers, his nephew attacked him.
The nephew pointed his gun at his uncle. The uncle grabbed the gun and unloaded it, but in the fray the nephew managed to take his uncle’s rifle and shoot his uncle three times, hitting him in the ear and arm. The men continued walking, but soon the nephew left his wounded uncle behind. The uncle later told troopers that he thought his nephew was going to kill him when he fired at him. The uncle told troopers that both he and his nephew were sober during the altercation.
Kwethluk Village Police Officers found the uncle, Jason Michael, on a trail about eight miles outside of the village. He was taken to the village clinic, then to the Bethel hospital, and from there to the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage.
The village police officers found the nephew, Seth Michael, at his grandmother’s home, arrested him, and confiscated two rifles that matched the uncle’s description. Seth Michael is being held at the Yukon Kuskokwim Correctional Center in Bethel. He’s charged with attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree, and two counts of assault in the third degree.
