The Franklin News-Post
P. O. Box 250
310 Main Street, SW
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
540-483-5113
Fax: 540-483-8013
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Leland Wilson Jr. |
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
By K.A. WAGONER - Staff Writer
A Ferrum man will serve six years of a 20-year prison sentence for shooting at two Ferrum College police officers in October 2011.
Leland Wilson Jr., 27, pleaded guilty in May to two charges of attempted malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer and one charge of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Wilson was sentenced to 10 years on the firearm charge and five years for each of the attempted malicious wounding charges.
Judge W.N. Alexander II suspended all but six years of the prison time, contingent upon Wilson following all the conditions of his sentence, which include five years probation and 25 years of good behavior.
Wilson is also prohibited from owning a firearm or even having access to one in the future, Alexander said.
"This case is bizarre," the judge told Wilson. "You were shot by your own father (revealed as part of the presentence report) and you know the damage these things cause. Yet you had an argument with your wife and brought a gun into the situation."
"Knowing what you know, your behavior is inexcusable and unreasonable," Alexander added.
The judge also ordered Wilson to undergo a psychological evaluation and mandated anger management courses.
"It seems something is not right," Alexander told Wilson.
On Oct. 7, 2011, two Ferrum police officers responded to a domestic assault call on Kermit Hollow Lane in the Ferrum area. When the officers approached the entrance to Kermit Hollow Lane, a man jumped out of a ditch and fired numerous shots with an assault rifle at the police vehicle.
The officers were not injured, and none of the estimated 14 rounds fired by Wilson hit the police patrol vehicle.
Before deputies and Virginia State Police troopers could establish a perimeter, Wilson fled in a pickup truck toward Haw Patch Road.
With assistance from Wilson's family members, deputies were able to establish contact with Wilson at the residence of Wilson's brother in Log Cabin Estates. Wilson agreed to surrender to Deputy Tim Mayo.
While deputies and state police troopers were setting up a road block near the entrance to Log Cabin Estates, Wilson drove up to the police vehicles and turned his vehicle around. He drove about 150 yards back up the road, got out of the vehicle and started walking around in an "agitated" state while holding an assault rifle.
Mayo talked with Wilson, and he finally surrendered peacefully. |
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