By RYAN SCOTT OTTNEY

PDT Staff Writer

LAWRENCE COUNTY — A father and son were seriously wounded in Chesapeake Friday night when an argument escalated to gunfire.

According to the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, 911 dispatchers received a call of a domestic dispute at 8308 County Road 15, in Chesapeake, at 11 p.m. Friday. Twenty minutes later, before deputies had arrived at the scene, another call was received advising shots had been fired.

Upon arrival, deputies found two adult male subjects on the front porch. Both men had blood on them, and several windows were broken at the house.

“This was an argument between a father and son that quickly turned tragic,” said Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless.

He said one of the men obtained a small caliber handgun and began to fire shots. Police are not at this time releasing information regarding whether it was father or son who fired the first shots. The father suffered one gunshot wound to the upper thigh, and another to the upper torso. His son was also injured, with a gunshot wound to the head.

Both were transported by Lawrence County EMS to Cabell Huntington Hospital in Huntington, W.Va., where Lawless said one was in stable condition and the other was in serious condition.

Their names are not being released, pending the outcome of the sheriff’s investigation.

“We are in the very early stages in this investigation. We have to piece the case together from the information we were told and compare that to the evidence we find,” Lawless said.

More information will be released as this investigation continues, he added.

Ryan Scott Ottney can be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 235, or rottney@heartlandpublications.com.