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Jackson County -- NC 43rd Prosecutorial District: February 2024:
A Glenville man, angered by neighbors’ target practice and who, afterward, fired four times into their residence, is now in state custody serving active prison time, District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said.
Last week, Jackson County jury members found Gene Allen Leopard, 64, guilty of four counts discharging firearm into an occupied dwelling. The shooting occurred on April 28, 2018.
At the time, three people were in the home: the couple who own the residence and a friend of the husband who had participated earlier in target practice. Suddenly, the victims testified, the windows “exploded.”
Only the two occupied rooms were lighted — indicating, prosecutors argued, that Leopard fired deliberately toward the occupants. The victims told jury members that the experience had been terrifying.
They also said they had conducted target practice – with no neighbor problems – for the previous six years, firing into a mountain bank near their residence.
Superior Court Judge Tom Locke sentenced Leopard to serve a total minimum active prison service of 102 months up to a total maximum of 148 months.
Prosecutors explained to jury members that Leopard faced four criminal counts, not just one because each trigger pull of the AR-10 semi-automatic rifle required thought.
Andy Buckner and Jenica Hughes co-prosecuted the case.
District Attorney Welch thanked the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, singling out Deputy Rob Porter, Detective Ryan Brooks, and the office’s former major, Shannon Queen.
Image Credit: WNCTimes
