On September 25th at approximately 4 o’clock p.m., defendant Link Waldman and another male drove into the Southwestern College parking lot to meet Louis Hunter for a one-on-one fist fight. Louis Hunter stood in the middle of the parking lot, with his friends, among them Alonzo Sheridan, waiting approximately 100 yards behind him behind a fence. When Mr. Waldman arrived in the parking lot he immediately proceeded to exit the car carrying a loaded 12-gauge shot gun. Mr. Waldman proceeded to fire a couple of rounds into the air before pointing the gun at Mr. Hunter. When Mr. Hunter could not dissuade Mr. Waldman to drop his weapon, Mr. Hunter’s friend Alonzo Sheridan jumped over the fence and proceeded toward the pair with a loaded .357 revolver.
At this point Mr. Waldman aimed his gun away from Mr. Hunter and fired a round at Mr. Sheridan, striking him in the torso. Mr. Sheridan fell to the ground and tossed his weapon toward Mr. Hunter. After Mr. Sheridan was hit with the gunfire, Mr. Waldman dropped his weapon while getting into the car driven by his friend. As Mr. Sheridan’s friends surrounded him to offer him aid, Mr. Waldman and the driver of the car sped away from the parking lot. Moments later the police and paramedics arrived on the scene, after Mr. Sheridan’s friends tried to get neighbors to call for help.
The defendant is charged with two counts of assault with a firearm. The criteria for being guilty of assault does not involve intent to hurt. When Mr. Waldman exited his car he immediately fired a round into the air, before aiming the gun at Mr. Hunter. When you hold a loaded shotgun to somebody’s head a few feet from their face, after already firing a round in the air, that equates to assault with a firearm. Mr. Waldman was in the position of being able to shoot and kill Mr. Hunter at this point in the confrontation. All witnesses involved in the case agree
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