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Video Shows Navy Official Threatening Men at Gunpoint

Karnig Ohannessian was apparently upset the men were being loud outside his house
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 6, 2016 2:19 PM CDT
Video Shows Navy Official Threatening Men at Gunpoint
Still from a video showing a Navy official allegedly threatening a group of men at gunpoint for being loud outside his home.   (YouTube)

A senior Navy official is being investigated by both the Navy and police after allegedly threatening a number of men with a gun outside his house last month in Virginia, the AP reports. CBS News obtained a video of the incident, which was filmed by one of the men. The men say they were at a barbecue at a friend's house June 11 when Karnig Ohannessian, a deputy assistant secretary for the Navy, came outside and attacked them for being loud and parking in front of his house, WUSA reports. They say he went back inside his house and returned with a gun, which is when they started filming. "I can shoot the [expletive] out of you guys right now," CBS quotes Ohannessian as saying in the video. Ohannessian accused the men of being drunk and on his property.

The men refused to get back in their car and taunted Ohannessian, telling him to "be thankful you have a gun." In the video, a woman believed to be Ohannessian's wife tries to deescalate the situation and get her husband to let the men leave. Police were called with reports of disorderly conduct and a man brandishing a gun, but the men had left by the time officers arrived. Two days later, a 24-year-old man filed a report about the incident and Ohannessian was briefly arrested, though no charges were filed. The Navy only became aware of the incident Tuesday after CBS shared the video. Ohannessian has received two civilian service awards while with the Navy. (More Navy stories.)

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