Sheriff Says “We Will Not Tolerate”
By Brandon Weghorst, NEWS9 WTOV
BETHANY, W.V. --
People who live in Bethany say it just doesn’t happen in their town. But the Brooke County sheriff says the gunman knew exactly what he or she was shooting at.
Sheriff Bernie Kazienko showed NEWS 9 a light cover from a cruiser riddled with bullet holes. The incident happened Thursday morning around 1:00 a.m. on the corner of Ross and Main Streets in Bethany.
Two sheriff’s deputies were investigating an incident and had been inside a business, but outside sat their cruiser. Then, the deputies heard gunfire, and when they went outside, they found the bullet holes.
A pickup truck parked next to the cruiser had its windsheild shot through as well. Several of Bethany’s residents heard the gunshot and thought it was a car backfiring.
“I started to hear commotion and everything,” said Shay Rine, who lives across the street from where the shooting happened. “We peeked out the window and saw the lights flashing. At that point, I didn’t know there had been a shooting.”
They’re surprised someone would do something like that in such a close-knit community. But Sheriff Kazienko is more concerned with why anyone would try to harm his deputies.
“It’s rather frightening because this certainly is an isolated incident,” said Dr. Michael Mihalyo, a Bethany College dean. “It really doesn’t happen in Bethany.”
The sheriff’s department gathered several pieces of evidence from the scene, which will be sent to the crime lab in Charleston. In the meantime, their investigation continues, and they intend to find the shooter.
“We’re going to pursue it and prosecute it to the fullest extent of the law, said Sheriff Kazienko. “I’m actually offended by what happened out there.”