ST. CHARLES COUNTY, MO — A Missouri woman faces felony charges after police said she fired a gun at a neighbor during a dispute over a fence and property line in St. Charles County. The confrontation happened Oct. 11, and investigators say the exchange escalated quickly after the neighbor was working near the boundary between the two properties.

Court records identify the woman as 60-year-old Paula Kohensky. She is charged with attempted first-degree assault and armed criminal action. No injuries were reported, but police say the incident involved a direct confrontation, a handgun, and a dispute that had been simmering for some time.

Neighbor says he heard a countdown before the shot

According to a probable cause statement, the neighbor told investigators he was using an electric grinder to correct a misaligned fence post when he heard yelling from nearby. He then said he heard a voice counting down from three before a gunshot rang out.

The man ran inside after the shot and asked his wife to call police. That account gave investigators a timeline of how the confrontation unfolded, from the work on the fence to the moment the weapon was fired. Police have not said that anyone was struck, and the neighbor was not reported hurt.

Kohensky told police the gun went off accidentally

Police say Kohensky described a different version of events when she spoke with investigators. She told them she had taken a handgun outside while walking her dog after hearing metal scraping and seeing sparks near the fence.

She said she yelled at the neighbor and that the gun discharged by accident. That explanation is now part of the case file, but investigators say other evidence points in another direction. The charge of attempted first-degree assault suggests police believe the shooting was intentional rather than accidental.

Investigators say video showed her aiming toward the fence

Investigators said surveillance video captured Kohensky pointing the gun toward the fence before it went off. Police also recovered a spent casing near the spot where she had been standing, which they say supports their account of where the shot was fired from.

Those details appear to have been important in building the case. While Kohensky said the gun fired unintentionally, police say the video and physical evidence align with an intentional act during the dispute. The case has been filed in court, and the allegations will now move through the legal process.

A property line dispute that had been building

The shooting was tied to a long-running disagreement over a fence and where the property line was located. That kind of neighborhood dispute can start with something as small as a misaligned post, but in this case it ended with felony charges and a police investigation.

Authorities have not said when the underlying conflict began, only that it involved an ongoing argument between neighbors. The Oct. 11 incident appears to have been the most serious point in that dispute. For now, no additional allegations or injuries have been reported beyond the shooting itself.

What happens next in the court case

Kohensky is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 2, according to court records. That hearing will be an early step in determining whether the case proceeds further on the felony charges filed against her.

For now, the case remains centered on a single confrontation, but the legal questions are significant. Prosecutors will have to show how the evidence fits the allegations, while the defense may challenge the account of whether the gun was intentionally pointed and fired or discharged accidentally during a tense exchange.