Tempers Flare: 'Baltimore Examiner' Editor Arrested On Gun Charges

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By: Joe Strupp The editor of the Baltimore Examiner, a free daily newspaper, was reportedly arrested Wednesday night and charged with pointing a shotgun at a neighbor during a dispute over cigarette smoke, according to The Sun of Baltimore.

Citing police reports, the Sun wrote that Frank J. Keegan, 58, is charged with three counts of second-degree assault and two gun violations, and is being held pending a bail hearing. Police told the Sun that alleged victims were a couple and their 3-year-old daughter who live next door to Keegan.

Examiner Managing Editor Timothy W. Maier declined comment to the Sun, saying Michael Phelps, chief executive officer of the Baltimore-Washington Examiner Group, would address the issue later.

"Police said in a detailed report that Keegan has been involved in a long-running dispute with David Paul Ayers, 38, who has complained about cigarette smoke coming from Keegan's row house," the Sun reported. "The latest argument started after 11 p.m. Police said Ayers complained that smoke was seeping into his home and his daughter, Sophie, was having trouble breathing. Ayers called for a paramedic and he, carrying his child, and his wife Christine went next door to confront Keegan."

The Sun reported that Ayers told police he pounded on Keegan's front door and heard someone say, "You [expletive] lunatics, get away from my door." Ayers added that he shouted back through a window, "'Look at what you're doing to my daughter.'"

The police report revealed Ayers claimed Keegan held "a long gun," and that he "racked the gun in a manner consistent with a shotgun and shouldered the weapon, pointing it at the entire Ayers family from inside the house and behind the glass of the first floor window."

The Sun reported that police seized the weapon without any rounds in the chamber, but with four rounds in a magazine.

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