A snowball fight on the lawn of Alpha Delta fraternity early Sunday morning ended when Marshall Bass '94 fired a pellet gun into the crowd of students throwing snowballs at the house and hit Clark Khayat '93.
The pellet hit Khayat on the forehead, drawing blood and knocking him off his feet, said Greg Frantz '96, who witnessed the incident.
Khayat was treated for a minor head wound at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center at 3:30 a.m., DHMC Administrative Coordinator Kathy Dalton said.
The incident began when AD brothers started exchanging snowballs with a group of students who gathered outside the house shortly after 2 a.m. During the snowball fight, Bass joined the brothers on the balcony with a pellet gun, which he fired at the crowd, Hanover Police Sergeant Lawrence Ranslow said.
Khayat, a first-year University of Pennsylvania law student, said he was wearing a baseball cap at the time of the shooting and thought the wound could have been more severe if the pellet had hit his forehead directly.
"The fact that it's not a big injury is fortunate," Khayat said in an interview from his dormitory at U. Penn.
A shot from a pellet gun can break the skin or severely injure an eye, Ranslow said.
Khayat was visiting the College for the weekend. He was a member of Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity, and was at AD with some of his Chi Gam brothers and friends from U. Penn, Frantz said.
"We thought he was kidding. Then he didn't get up," said Frantz, who is also member of Chi Gam.
After the shooting, Bass came down from the balcony and entered the crowd, Frantz said.
Frantz said the police were not called until a few minutes later when there was nearly a "confrontation" between Khayat and Bass.
Police took Bass into protective custody, Ranslow said. Khayat was taken to the hospital.
Khayat refused to comment about a possible lawsuit, but said Bass has agreed to pay his medical expenses.
Ranslow said he expects an arrest. Hanover Police Sergeant Frank Moran, who was at AD Sunday morning, was unavailable for comment on the specifics of the arrest and pending charges.
Chi Gam President Kevin Fleming '95 said, "In no way was this an interfraternity incident. It involved two individuals. Neither Chi Gam nor AD should be held responsible for what took place."
AD president Guy Dixon '95 declined to comment on the incident.
Bass could not be reached for comment.
