Cornelia Police Department has charged a Demorest woman after she allegedly fired multiple shots at a stolen truck belonging to her husband on Sept. 3.
Mary Leigh Sheriff Welborn, 45, turned herself in Friday and is charged with one count of reckless conduct, a misdemeanor.
Cornelia Police Chief Jonathan Roberts said Welborn endangered innocent lives when she fired shots at the moving vehicle adjacent to a peanut stand in the parking lot of United Community Bank at 11:15 on that Saturday morning.
“We responded to shots fired in the parking lot. And the initial thought was that the course that Ms. Wilburn took was in self-defense,” Roberts said. “And then after speaking with witnesses and reviewing the video, we can agree with Ms. Welborn’s use of a personal defense firearm when Sterling Strength pointed a gun at her and placing her in fear for life. However, when he fled the scene, Ms. Welborn was no longer in a position of self-defense, and she chose to fire two shots at a moving vehicle that was traveling away from her that did not pose a threat to her or the public at the time of her discharging her weapon.”
Welborn’s first shot struck the truck’s front tire on the driver’s side, but Roberts said Welborn continued to fire as the truck retreated.
“The second shot she was approximately 43 yards away and she was shooting into a populated area as well as a high traffic area,” Roberts said. “The third shot after he had turned onto Level Grove Road was about 56 yards away and he was traveling on Level Grove Road toward downtown. And you know while the law says that you can use force to defend yourself from death or great bodily harm it does not negate the fact that her actions of shooting at a moving vehicle in a high traffic and populated area was obviously, we considered, reckless ownership. And use of a firearm comes with great responsibility and using it properly safely and appropriately is what we are encouraging citizens that feel that they're equipped enough to exercise their Second Amendment right because just because you can doesn't mean that you necessarily should.”
Roberts said Welborn’s initial story is not what witness statements and video have shown.
“When the story first unfolded, and when the officers first got on scene, we were all kind of under the pretext that this was a self-defense scenario, because he had brandished a firearm at her, and she felt that she was within her rights – which she was if that's what happened – and she discharged the weapon. And, if you're going to exercise your Second Amendment right, we encourage you to know and understand the law that comes with that because everyone out here has the right to live and be free and be safe.”
Roberts said an important lesson that can be learned from this incident is that the person firing a weapon must always consider his or her surroundings.
“When you're deciding to use a personal defense weapon and you've discharged rounds at something, you’ve got to understand where that bullet is going,” he said. “If it's not striking its intended target, it doesn't stop until it hits something.”
Roberts said this is not at all a case of government trying to suppress Second Amendment rights.
“This is a case of just reckless disregard of what was beyond a moving truck at 50 some odd yards away,” Roberts said. “As a citizen, I’m pro-Second Amendment. I support the Second Amendment and I encourage people that legally are able to exercise their Second Amendment to do so. But, also with that comes the responsibility of knowing the law other than it's the Second Amendment. Knowing the law of when you can and can't, understanding basic firearm fundamentals of knowing your target and what's beyond, and what your capabilities are with that firearm. And I think sometimes in the smoke of things the Second Amendment is used as a blanket and sometimes that blanket doesn't cover actions as we see today.”
Roberts now considers the case closed unless new evidence is presented, meaning the case will make its way through the court system for disposition.
