A 27-year-old Petersburg man is being held without bond after police say he shot another man in broad daylight on Ft. Rice Street earlier this week. Officers responded to the 2100 block around 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday and found a male victim who had been shot, though his injuries were not considered life-threatening.
William Bethel was charged with use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and discharge of a firearm in a public place with injury, according to WRIC ABC 8News. He is being held without bond pending his court appearance, the station reported. Police have asked anyone with information about the shooting to contact the Petersburg Bureau of Police.
What Virginia Law Says About the Charges
The discharge-of-a-firearm charge Bethel faces falls under a state statute that makes it a Class 6 felony to willfully fire a gun in a city or town street, place of public business, or place of public gathering when the conduct results in bodily injury to someone else, according to the Virginia Legislative Information System. That code excerpt describes the offense in general terms and does not speak to the specific facts of the Ft. Rice Street case.
A separate section of state code addresses malicious wounding, defining it as maliciously causing bodily injury with intent to maim, disfigure, disable, or kill, a Class 3 felony under most circumstances, per the Virginia Legislative Information System. As with the discharge statute, that language is a general statutory description rather than a finding tied to Bethel's case.
Other Recent Shootings in the City
The Ft. Rice Street incident is one of several shootings Petersburg police have investigated in recent months. In a separate case on a Saturday in late September, officers were called to the 1400 block of Baxter Road around 3:15 a.m. for a report of a person being shot, the station's report notes. That victim was also taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and the suspect in that case was charged with malicious wounding and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony before being taken to Riverside Regional Jail to await a court appearance.
Another shooting last month left two men injured in the 400 block of South Adams Street around 12:45 a.m., according to the Progress-Index. Police recovered two guns at that scene and charged 37-year-old Dejuan “DJ” Roy with malicious wounding and reckless use of a firearm. Roy, like Bethel, was held without bond pending a court appearance, the paper reported.
No further details about Bethel's next court date or the circumstances that led to the Ft. Rice Street shooting have been released. Police continue to ask that anyone with information about the case come forward.
