Augusta man shot after card game argument with friend

HALLOWELL – A 35-year-old man was charged with aggravated assault Sunday after a card game argument led to a gunshot that wounded an Augusta man, police said.

Donald Hipkins was arrested after a 911 operator heard him fire the shot that wounded David Storkson, 34, Officer Peter Schumacher of the Hallowell Police Department told the Kennebec Journal. Storkson, who was shot in the abdomen, was in fair condition Sunday at MaineGeneral Hospital in Augusta, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The two men, along with Hipkins’ wife and Storkson’s girlfriend, were playing cards inside Hipkins’ mobile home on Outlet Road Saturday night when an argument escalated into a fistfight, authorities said.

“We’re still trying to pinpoint what the argument was about,” said Stephen McCausland of the state Public Safety Department. “The fight ended with the two men separating. … When Storkson came back into the home, Hipkins shot him in the abdomen with a .357 revolver.”

McCausland added that alcohol was a factor in the shooting.

Schumacher, of the Hallowell Police Department, said he believed that Hipkins himself called 911.

“While the suspect was on the phone with the dispatcher, he actually shot the victim,” Schumacher said.

Hipkins is being held on $200,000 bail at the Kennebec County Jail.