A Butler man faces multiple charges after police say he fired a gun at another man and was found in possession of drugs.
Officers of the Carter County Sheriff’s Office arrested James Walsh, 58, of 386 Pine St., Butler, on Sunday night and charged him with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, possession of Schedule II drugs, possession of Schedule IV drugs, possession of Schedule VI drugs and introduction of contraband into a penal facility.
Around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, deputies with the CCSO responded to a report of shots being fired in the area of Jenkins Hollow Road in Valley Forge. When officers arrived on scene, they encountered a man standing in the roadway who told the officers he was standing in front of Walsh’s camper when Walsh came to the door and pointed a revolver at him.
“(The man) stated Mr. Walsh asked him if ‘he had looked down the barrel of a .38 before,’” CCSO Deputy Joshua Hopkins said. “(The man) then stated he jerked and moved his head trying to get out of the way of the firearm. (The man) stated Mr. Walsh then fired the pistol and it went beside his head.”
“(The man) was still hard of hearing at the time of the interview due to the gun fire,” Hopkins added.
While speaking with the officers, the man pointed to a small white camper on Jenkins Hollow Road and said Walsh was staying in the camper. Hopkins said he and other officers approached the camper on foot and made contact with a woman who had witnessed the incident as she exited the camper. The woman told officers Walsh had walked down the driveway and was still armed with two handguns.
“Myself along with other deputies then proceeded on down the driveway where we located Mr. Walsh standing in the dark in the doorway of a small building,” Hopkins said, adding officers placed Walsh into handcuffs.
Officers located two revolvers in the building where Walsh was located, Hopkins said.
“We went back to the camper where the shot was fired and located one spent .45 round on the ground next to the camper door,” Hopkins said. “It had been raining all day and the yard and driveway were very muddy. The spent round did not have any dirt on it and had not been wet.”
Both the man and the woman who witnessed the incident identified Walsh as the person who fired the revolver.
When officers searched Walsh, Hopkins said they found several rounds of ammunition in his pocket as well as two different types of prescription medication. Hopkins said once Walsh was taken to the Carter County Detention Center another search of his person was conducted and officers found a plastic bag containing a green leafy substance that Walsh told them was marijuana.
Walsh appeared in Carter County General Sessions Court on Monday morning where he was arraigned. Judge Keith Bowers scheduled Walsh to return to court on October 18 with his attorney. Following his court appearance, Walsh was released from the Carter County Detention Center on Monday after posting a $25,000 bond.