A young Harrison woman on Wednesday gave emotional testimony about shots being fired near her family during a sledding outing in their Harrison neighborhood on Jan. 10.
The mother said she and her husband decided to take their four kids sledding and they ended up on property owned by the developer of their neighborhood off Birchwood Pike.
She said the children, ages 7, 5, 3 and 1, were playing in the snow when "I heard gunshots." She said, "I saw snow fly up in the air at my baby's feet. She said the bullet landed a foot or two from the child.
She said, "I looked at my husand and I said the shots were coming at us." She said she yelled toward a wooded area where the shots were coming from, "Hey, we're playing over here." She said a man yelled back, "You're on private property."
She said more shots rang out in their direction, and they quickly gathered up the children and sleds and headed toward home, then called 911.
General Sessions Court Judge Lila Statom bound numerous charges to the Grand Jury against Benjamin Douglas Cook, Sr., including six counts of attempted first-degree murder.
Judge Statom kept Cook's bond at a total $465,000.
She said if he makes the bond he will have to find a new place to live because he could not stay within five miles of the home of the family that was shot at. Also, she said he would have to be on house arrest and not have any weapons.
The mother estimated that four or five shots were fired initially, as well as two more after she and her husband hollered at the shooter.
She said after she got home she went online to notify other nearby families that they needed to keep their children inside. She said one neighbor sent the family pictures she took of a man carrying a rifle prior to the shooting.
Law enforcement said that man was Cook who lives in one house nearby, while his sister lives in another.
The Sheriff's Office located 9mm slugs in the snow near where the family was playing.
Lt. Eliott Mahaffey said Cook was located behind his house. He denied having fired any shots. The weapon used in the shooting was not found, it was stated, but several rifles were inside Cook's home. A box of 9mm ammunition was located in the house.
Lt. Mahaffey said the house is without power and was very unkempt. He said a tan coat matching the one in the photo of a man carrying a rifle was found at the top of a large pile of clothing.
The witness said Cook apparently has a beef with the developer of a new neighborhood near him.