Monopoly Night Ends in Shooting After Family Feud

A heated dispute over a Monopoly game escalated to gunfire on Thanksgiving weekend.

Police were called after a shot rang out near a house in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday. A drunken game night ended with suspect John Ronald Dewayne Armstrong allegedly pulling a gun on two family members, according to Tulsa Police Department Officer Danny Bean.

"The entire family had been drinking and they were playing Monopoly," Bean told Newsweek. "An argument broke out during this during this game-playing and drinking between our suspect and the stepfather and stepsibling."

Alcohol is often involved in domestic disputes and abuse. According to Alcohol Rehab Guide, two-thirds of spousal abuse victims report that the perpetrator was drinking at the time of the incident. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 55 percent of domestic abuse perpetrators were drinking alcohol prior to assault.

After a physical fight broke out in the house, a relative told the three family members to "take it outside," said Bean. Armstrong's head was cut during the skirmish.

"He got angry at that, produced a gun and started following our victims," Bean said.

Armstrong admitted to police that he fired a shot into the ground near his stepfather and stepsister. No one was injured.

"Maybe he would make them think he was more capable of doing something else just by firing one round off," said Bean. "I'm sure it was some sort of act of intimidation."

Family members called the police, who arrived to find the remnants of a rampaged Monopoly game.

"They went in and saw that furniture was turned over, the Monopoly game was thrown across the whole house, pieces everywhere, Monopoly money everywhere," said Bean.

In his experience at the Tulsa Police Department, Bean said he was used to seeing family disputes increase over the holidays—even if he has never seen a shooting break out over Monopoly.

"You tend to see some more disagreements and arguments, not necessarily super violent or anything of the sort, but definitely some disagreements where a police presence may be called," he said.

The Thanksgiving holiday arrived as Americans grieved two mass shootings. On November 19, a gunman opened fire at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, leaving five people dead and 18 injured. On Tuesday before Thanksgiving, a Walmart manager killed six fellow employees before turning the gun on himself in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Armstrong was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and received a $25,000 bond, according to jail records.