A complaint filed in Calhoun County Magistrate Court by Trooper J.D. Richards found John Henry McCune facing the felony charge of Wanton Endangerment and being held on a $75,000 bond.
Trooper Richards received information from Calhoun 911 on August 27th, 2023 when Carol Huffman was alledgedly shot at by her neighbor at the address of 206 Sandstone Road. DNR Officer J. Holcomb was first to arrive on scene and met the accused, John Henry McCune, on the front porch of the residence. Holcomb informed Trooper Richards that McCune had admitted to shooting a gun “in the air” a short time earlier.
Trooper Richards had prior knowledge that the accused was a prohibited person so officer Holcomb detained him until Trooper Richards arrived. Troopers from the WV State Police detachment of Clay also arrived to provide assistance.
When Trooper Richards spoke to the girlfriend of Mr. McCune, Shayla M. Hall, she too said that Mr. McCune had fired the gun in the air in a direction towards the residence on the left of Sandstone Road, an address that was before the address that the officers had responded.
Trooper Richards spoke to Betty McCune, mother of the accused who stated that her son had fired the gun up in the air, straight up and down.
Trooper Richards spoke to the caller who had reported the incident who stated that she was out on her walkway when she observed a few individuals load a barrel in the back of a blue dodge pick up. After the barrel was loaded, the accused, John Henry McCune, raised a .22 Cricket revolver style handgun and shot directly at her. She described the noise as a small caliber but loud as if the sound was projected toward her.
Charles Otto, who was standing on the porch of the residence at the time, was startled by the noise of the firearm and was in disbelief.
Trooper Richards spoke to the accused, to try and locate the firearm, but was told it was not there, that he had sold it and didn’t know that he wasn’t allowed to possess a firearm after being informed of that verbally by Trooper Richards. McCune has a conviction date of 9/12/2022 for Domestic Battery. McCune further stated that he had purchased the .22 cricket from Ricky McCune at 10:30 a.m. the same morning for $25. He then called Bucky Miller from Rosedale and Bucky came to the address to pick up the firearm at 3:00 to 3:30 p.m. for the $50 owed.
Trooper Richards noted that every described direction for which the gun was pointed in, when fired, posed and showed wanton disregard for the substatial and real hazard to health and human life. McCune did not discharge the firearm into an embankment , or straight into the dirt which would have created little to no risk of hazard.
It was attempted by Trooper Richards to locate the firearm by contacting Bucky Miller to no avail. Given the circumstance of the investigation, Trooper Richards placed John Henry McCune under arrest for Wanton Endangerment and Use of a Firerm in the Commission of a Felony.
The second charge of “Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony” was denied Magistrate Lora Davis.
On the charge of Wanton Endangerment, in violation of 61-7-12 of the code of the State of West Virginia, any person who wantonly performs any act with a firearm that creates a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to an other shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in the penitentiary for a definate term of years not less than one year nor more than five years, or, in the discretion of the court, confined in the county jail for not more than one hyear, or fined not less than $250 nor more than $2,500, or both.
McCune is currently being held in the WV Central Regional Jail on a $75,000 cash/surety bond.
Thank you Shari!