Despite sanctions and a civil injunction, gunfire has allegedly resumed on Fire Tower Road from an unlicensed gun range, and it seems that there is no end in sight.
Byron David Bell Sr., who is listed as the owner of the property in Welcome, was handed a $350,000 sanction for civil contempt for failing to abide by the Sept. 9, 2022, injunction.
Details on how the sanction would be applied were not laid out in court, but Bell was given an opportunity to work down the sanction. Each week without the report of gunfire on the property would result in $1,000 subtracted from the sanction.
At the time, the injunction was used to shut down “Choppa Day” — an event hosted by the Choppa Community, a Black-owned gun club led by Mark Manley.
Southern Maryland News reached out to Bell and Manley multiple times but did not get any response for this story.
The county was able to successfully argue in court in 2022 that Manley did not have proper permits to operate a gun range on the property.
“The shooting has not ceased at all,” Wes Thomlinson, who owns property on the other side of the treeline that the gun range fires into, said.
Thomlinson alleged he has found multiple bullet holes in his barn.
Trees on his property have been shredded by gunfire as well, and Thomlinson has had someone estimate his timber losses in the five figures. Even if Thomlinson were to hire an attorney, he says he would collect next to nothing in restitution after paying legal fees.
Dale Thomlinson, Wes Thomlinson’s brother, detailed a visit that he took to his brother’s farm with his wife and dog when gunfire erupted.
He said he could hear bullets whizzing and striking trees, and his dog ran to hide under his truck. Realizing that they were in danger, they left Wes’s property as fast as they could.
According to the brothers, no one in county government or at the Charles sheriff’s office will take responsibility for shutting down the gun range. They claim that the sheriff’s office, the county and county attorneys are all finger-pointing at one another while nothing is being done to ensure safety.
In a phone call with Southern Maryland News, Marc Potter, an associate county attorney, said, “I’m not going to comment whether or not the injunction is enforceable, but the sheriff’s office has a responsibility to make sure the community is safe.”
Upon reaching out to the sheriff’s office for comment, a spokesperson said, “The sheriff’s office is not a party to the court proceeding, and does not enforce civil injunctions.”
Peggy Williams, a resident in the area of Fire Tower Road, has gone door to door getting concerned neighbors to sign petitions to bring the county’s attention to the ongoing issue.
Williams said that when officers come to the neighborhood, the officers will sit on the street and not enter the property to help cease the gunfire, despite the injunction warning that further shootings could lead to penalties like the seizure of Bell’s property.
She said that the police will not do anything because “they cannot prove that Bell is at the property at the time of the shootings.”
Sundays in the neighborhood have been dubbed “Shooting Sundays” by residents, with the sound of heavy gunfire drowning out everything else.
Thomlinson said officers have warned him not to go on parts of his own property for his safety on days when gunfire is heavy.
“You need to get these agencies to work together,” Thomlinson said.
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