Man who shot girlfriend pleads guilty

A Niagara Falls woman underwent surgery to remove a pellet from her eye after being shot with a pellet gun by her boyfriend, court heard Friday.

Michael Croft pleaded guilty before Judge Tory Colvin to a charge of assault with a weapon in an Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines.

On Feb. 2, 2017, court was told, the 35-year-old flew into a rage after his girlfriend accidentally woke him up.

Court was told Croft had suffered a “severe reaction” after consuming the drug carfentanyl earlier in the day.

“His girlfriend assisted him in what she described as an overdose,” assistant Crown attorney Jacqueline Strecansky told the judge.

When she accidentally woke him up, Strecansky continued, Croft “yelled and screamed at her and demanded heroin.”

Croft then pulled out a pellet gun and shot at his girlfriend a number of times.

Another occupant of the home heard the argument, followed by a series of “popping sounds” coming from the bedroom.

One shot struck the woman in her right eye and she began to bleed profusely.

The victim was taken to hospital where she underwent surgery to remove the pellet lodged in her eye.

“Upon release from hospital, her vision prognosis was unknown because the swelling was so great,” Strecansky said.

The victim later reported her peripheral vision is now compromised.

Further information is expected to be presented to court when Croft returns for sentencing March 29.