Panhandle man wounded in shooting

May 31, 1997

By DAVE McMILLION

Staff Writer, Martinsburg

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Police believe a man was shot in the foot with a rifle while being chased from a house with several other people in the Millpoint subdivision Thursday night, according to police.

Hector Soto, age unavailable, of Martinsburg, was treated and released from City Hospital following the shooting, which occurred about 11:30 p.m., officials said.

Max Oglesbee Oates III, 19, who lived in the house, was charged with wanton endangerment with a firearm and brandishing, Berkeley County Magistrate Court records said.

Berkeley County sheriff's deputies said it is unclear what led to the shooting.

According to court records, a man went to his house at 2203 Millpoint Road and took a rifle from the trunk of his gray Pontiac Sunbird.

The man went into the house and put the rifle in his sister's room, according to court records. The man went to his brother's room and kicked the door open, court records said.

The man ordered his brother's guests to leave the house, and as they fled, the suspect retrieved the rifle from his sister's room, court records said.

As Soto was fleeing across the front yard, a shot was fired from the rifle, said court records. The bullet apparently bounced off the driveway and struck Soto in the right foot, causing injury to his foot and leg, said court records.

The man claimed Soto was making threats as he left the house, court records said. The suspect fired the shot to scare Soto, court records said.

Oates was taken to the Eastern Regional Jail Thursday night and released on bond, a jail official said. If found guilty of the wanton endangerment and brandishing charges, Oates faces up to six years in jail, court records said.

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