Coralville man arrested in connection with Iowa City shooting

IOWA CITY - A Coralville man is accused of shooting someone during a drug deal gone awry last year.

According to Iowa City police criminal complaints, Rafael C. Brown, 28, went to Hawks Ridge Apartments, 201 Hawk Ridge Dr., with another person to sell drugs around 1:35 a.m. Dec. 18.

Police said the two intended to sell six THC cartridges and two ounces of marijuana to two other people for $660.

Police said an argument ensued about payment for the drugs. Brown - sitting in the driver's seat of his vehicle - pulled a gun and shot the person standing at the passenger side of the car, police said. The person was hit in the arm and torso and hospitalized for a week and a half, police said.

A search warrant was later obtained for Brown's residence.

Officers found the gun believed to have been used in the shooting, as well as marijuana, packaging materials and a digital scale.

Brown's phone contained text messages about buying and selling drugs, as well as photos of him with guns, cash and large amounts of marijuana, police said.

Police said Brown told them in an interview the shooting was done in self-defense.

Brown faces charges of willful injury causing serious injury, a Class C felony, and controlled substance violation, a Class D felony. He faces up to 15 years in prison for the two offenses if found guilty.

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