Suspect facing gun possession felony charges

The man who was shot in the groin last month pleaded not guilty Thursday to two counts of possessing firearms as a convicted felon.

Marty Morrison, 35, went to Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin on April 26 after he was shot in the groin. Police later arrested him after finding two guns in his home. He was convicted of two second-degree burglary charges in 1998, terroristic threats in 2006 and third-degree drug crime in 2006 — all felonies.

According to a court complaint, police were called to the Austin hospital April 26 to take a report of the gunshot wound. Morrison was transferred via helicopter to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester, but he was home a few days later.

A woman told police Morrison tried to help her get rid of two men who she said were “cartel people from Mexico” when one of them put a gun down Morrison’s pants and fired. She said the men, who were looking for her ex-boyfriend, fled from her home at the 1200 block of Fourth Street Northwest in a black SUV.

Yet neighbors and nearby witnesses didn’t corroborate the woman’s story. One witness told police she saw a man talk to someone in a car, hobble to his truck and follow the car east out of the neighborhood. Another man who worked at the house since the early afternoon told police he didn’t see or hear anyone there aside from the woman, who returned to the home at about 4 p.m., stayed for 20 minutes, then leave, according to the complaint. Officers didn’t find any evidence of around the woman’s home.

Police later went to Morrison’s home and spotted an ammunition box near a chair. Officers asked Morrison about the ammunition, but Morrison became angry and told police to leave.

They returned with a search warrant and found a Walther P99 .40-caliber handgun — which came back as stolen in a March 2013 burglary — and a Smith & Wesson .22-caliber handgun, which had a spent .22-caliber round in the chamber, according to the court complaint.

Police also found ammunition boxes, several rounds of ammunition, loaded magazines for the handguns, a handgun case and a holster, the complaint states.

Morrison’s next court appearance is May 22.