Wilkesboro Police have been working over the weekend to tie up the loose ends on a case that was fortunate it did not have a much worse outcome. A teen-aged boy was firing a 22-rifle across a Wilkes Highway last Tuesday and Wednesday, and in spite of his firing a number of shots, he fortunately did not hit anyone in a car. Because the boy is a juvenile and identifying his father would identify him, we will not release either of their names.

Darrell Stone called police Friday morning, about two days after he heard shots for the second night in a row as he was closing up his business, Foothills Auto Spa, on Highway 421. When he stepped outside, he saw the boy heading back into his house, which was within sight of the business across the road. An officer was able to recover a number of bullets from the ground, and there were several pock-marks in the building where the bullets had hit, causing about 25-hundred dollars damage.

Stone had spoken with the boy's father, who once worked at the business and is considered a friend. Until he realized the amount of damage that had occurred, and that the boy had shot across the highway, Stone had intended the report to be more informational than to result in any charges against the boy. When police contacted the father, he said he left the gun out for the boy to practice shooting, but he was not to be shooting toward the road, only into the woods where he couldn't hit someone. When he was shown the evidence from the business lot, he agreed to bring his son to the police department to discuss the matter.

The boy, along his father and mother, came to the police station over the weekend. He admitted firing the shots, but only after maintaining he had not intended to shoot across the road. But when he was shown the bullets recovered on the other side of the road, he knew the game was up and admitted what happened. Police are awaiting a juvenile petition for felony discharge of a firearm into an occupied building, and they have also charged the father with storing a firearm where it was accessible to a minor. The boy also faces a property damage charge.