A Hamilton woman is free on bond awaiting a hearing later this month for allegedly shooting a man in the face on Valentine’s Day morning.

Pamela Dawson, 51, 1331 Campbell Ave., is charged with felonious assault for the shooting of Donald Knapp, 43, at the residence shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday. Dawson said in an interview Thursday night just hours after bonding out of jail that the shooting was an accident and only meant to scare Knapp, who she said had assaulted her.

“I just wanted him to know I meant business,” Dawson said. Knapp had been kicked out of his residence about three weeks before and Dawson said she let him move in because she felt sorry for him.

“I found out everything he said was a lie,” she said, adding he took stole some of her medication while staying with her.

On Thursday morning, Knapp begged her to take him to a pharmacy to get medication and make a trip to the bank to get money he owed for rent. Not far from home, Knapp began making comments about Dawson’s ex-husband and an argument ensued.

Dawson said Knapp locked her out of her truck, threw her on the ground and then assaulted her. Eventually she was able to get back in the vehicle and drive home.

“He came walking back into the house. I told him he would have to leave. I wasn’t going to have him in my house after he manhandled me,” Dawson said. “He started yelling unlawful eviction.”

Dawson said she then went to get her father’s handgun to scare Dawson.

“I had told my ex-husband to fix it so the first chamber was empty so if it went off no one would be hit,” Dawson said crying. She had been scared in her home previously by prowlers, she said.

“I have never shot a gun in my life. I didn’t know it would shoot. I thought the first chamber was empty,” Dawson said, noting she wanted to tell her side of the story and let people know she is “not a monster.”

Knapp was transported by medical helicopter to University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where no information was available Friday about his condition. Police said he was alert and talking at the scene.

On a 911 tape released Friday, a woman said her boyfriend ran outside screaming that he had been shot in the face.

Dawson was arraigned Friday in Hamilton Municipal Court, where a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Feb. 26.