SALISBURY, Md. - Mayoral candidate Jermichael Mitchell is being charged with reckless endangerment and discharging a firearm within city limits following an incident last week.
According to a statement of charges by Salisbury Police, an officer was dispatched on April 20th at 8:30 a.m. to an apartment on College Lane to reports of a shooting. When the officer arrived, a woman told the officer she had been nursing her infant child in her bedroom when a bullet came through her ceiling from the apartment above and struck the bedroom floor. The statement notes the bullet reportedly struck about five feet away from where the woman was nursing her infant.
Police made contact with Mitchell, who, according to the statement, told police that he was in the apartment directly over the woman at the time of the incident. Mitchell allegedly told police that around 7:30 a.m., he went to the apartment to retrieve his gun to go to a shooting range. As he was loading the magazine into his 9mm handgun, Mitchell reportedly told police the gun fired.
Mitchell then left the apartment to retrieve his firearm credentials, according to the statement of charges, and told police he was not trying to hide.
“It should be noted,” the statement reads, “that at no point did Mitchell make contact with police or check on the victim after the shooting occurred.”
When reached for comment, Mitchell’s campaign manager Kevin Lindsey said that Mitchell owns up to the incident and will confront it head on, but is confident he’ll be found not guilty.
“Gun safety is a serious matter, and [Mitchell] does not take it lightly,” Lindsey also said.
Mitchell faces two counts of reckless endangerment which each carry a maximum penalty of up to 5 years or $5,000. He is also being charged with violation of Salisbury municipal code in discharging a firearm within the city. The charge is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days or $500, or both.
Mitchell will continue to run for the Office of Salisbury Mayor, Lindsey said. Residents are slated to vote later this year in November for that race, and Mitchell will face current interim mayor Jack Heath in the election.