The Farmington High School principal was served with a protection order from his ex-wife hours after police say he tried to choke his fianceé and killed the family dog earlier this week. Newly-released documents reveal what the woman says happened that night in the house.
Christopher Webb, 42, was arrested Thursday after police said officers found him naked and bloody, assaulting his fianceé Shannon Shrum in their home. A petition for a protective order filed later that day with the circuit clerk's office states Webb’s 12-year-old daughter witnessed the attack and was the one to summon police.
Emily Rappe with the Children's Advocacy Center said any time a child witnesses an event where harm was done to themselves or others, that child could develop post-traumatic stress disorder.
"Some of the symptoms of that would be signs of anger, withdrawal or lack of sleep," Rappe said.
The petition was filed in Washington County Circuit Court by Webb’s ex-wife, Dina Andrejcik, 41. She said she believes she and her two children with Webb are in immediate danger of domestic abuse. The order was granted the same day and is in effect until Aug. 6.
According to the petition, Andrejcik’s daughter called her mother from Webb’s home at 1:30 a.m. Thursday. She was crying hysterically and wanted her mom to pick her up.
When Andrejcik pulled up at Webb's home about 10 minutes, her daughter was outside with police. Andrejcik asked if Webb was OK because the night before, he went to the emergency room, possibly due to a heart attack or stroke.
The girl told her mom Webb “went to jail because he killed Haus,” the family’s 13-week-old Labrador, and then assaulted Shrum. Webb “lost it and snapped” the girl said.
The documents state Shrum and Webb had been lying in bed that evening when he began acting strange, “snapping his head to look at [Shrum] and talking with very big eyes." At one point, Webb jumped out of bed, grabbed his Bible and said, “This is a game, God. Don’t you blink. There is going to be blood in this house tonight,” according to the protective order.
Webb and Shrum went downstairs, where Shrum was trying to hide kitchen knives. Webb grabbed a knife and cut the dog’s throat, according to court documents.
At this point, the daughter heard Shrum scream and came out of her room to find her father naked and covered in blood.
Webb had turned his attention back to the dog, which had retreated to the bathroom. He grabbed the bleeding animal and pushed its head under the water in the toilet, the petition says.
During the assault, Webb was telling his daughter to stay with him and not to “blink,” while also saying, “Don’t stay with me; run as fast as you can,” according to the petition.
The girl said she called 911 once, but had to hang up because her father came into the room.
She saw Webb grab Shrum and drag her to the bathroom, where he was trying to poke her eyes out, the petition states. The girl called 911 again.
Police arrived and found Webb and Shrum in the bathroom. Blood was on walls, floors, cabinets, countertops, furniture and the carpet.
Shrum told Andrejcik that police used a Taser on the 6-foot-1 Webb, but it didn’t work.
Andrejcik said after police took the dead dog from the house, Shrum and her daughter seemed to be in shock. Shrum began cleaning up the mess, and Andrejcik grabbed a mop to help. She was there for three hours.
Andrejcik said Shrum apologized for what her daughter had witnessed. Shrum said she had tried to get the girl to a neighbor’s home, which is where the younger brother was.
Rappe says once a child experiences a traumatic event, the first step is to get them into therapy as soon as possible.
"Sometimes the child might think that if they saw something sooner they could've done something to prevent it, so they might have sense of fault for the experience or sometime they`ll take that word 'trauma' and turn it into something bad," explained Rappe.
Shrum told Andrejcik that Webb was arrested and taken to jail in a straight jacket, but convinced police to take it off. When they did, he “went ballistic," Shrum said.
Family and friends began arriving at the home around 4:30 a.m. Andrejcik left with her children.
Webb was treated at the hospital, then was admitted to Vista Health Center in Fayetteville, the petition states. Vista Health provide mental health services.
He faces charges of aggravated assault, domestic abuse, endangering the welfare of a minor and aggravated cruelty on an animal.
Webb and Andrejcik were married in 1995 and divorced in 2004, according to public documents from the Washington County Circuit Clerk's office.