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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Man arrested for pointing gun at child dropping off Halloween goody bag

By Justine McDaniel Washington Post

A New York man was arrested after allegedly pointing a gun at a 6-year-old boy whose family mistakenly dropped a Halloween goody bag at the wrong house.

The family - a mother, her daughter, two sons and a nephew - were in a neighborhood in Manhasset, on Long Island, on Saturday evening so that the 10-year-old daughter could drop a goody bag off at her friend’s house, according to the Nassau County Police Department.

The 10-year-old and 6-year-old got out of the car, rang the doorbell and left the bag of candy on the doorstep. They got in the car and left, but as they drove away, the girl realized that they had the address wrong. They drove back, and the 6-year-old jumped out of the car to get the bag from the porch, police said in a news release.

When the boy got to the porch, Michael Yifan Wen, 43, allegedly opened the front door and pointed a handgun at the boy’s head.

He was charged with menacing and endangering a child’s welfare. Court records indicated he did not have an attorney.

No one was injured.

Across the United States, shootings during the weekend preceding Halloween killed at least 11 and injured more than 70, the Associated Press reported.

This year, shootings of people in seemingly normal situations have drawn national attention, including people who pulled into the wrong driveway, knocked on the wrong door or got into the wrong car.