Woodlee indicted for fire hall shooting

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

WOODLEE

The former chief of Collins River Fire Department has been indicted for shooting up his former fire hall in an incident reportedly brought on by his being voted out as chief last year.

The suspect, Dwight Woodlee, was freed on $30,000 bond after turning himself in Monday on charges of vandalism and civil rights intimidation. The counts are Class D felonies carrying two to four years in prison.

His indictment comes after he allegedly opened fire with a 9 mm weapon, shooting into two unoccupied fire houses this March. Lawmen maintain he fired eight rounds into the Collins River station at Mt. Leo and 10 into the station near Irving College School. The incident happened after Woodlee, who served as chief of the rural volunteer fire fighting agency for over 19 years, was voted out of office by the membership last year.

“He felt like he’d been done wrong,” said Sheriff’s Investigator Jackie Matheny Jr., who noted Woodlee did not confess to the crime.

While not having a confession, lawmen say they have the next best thing to a smoking gun. Specifically, investigators said they found broken window glass outside the scene of the Irving College fire hall shooting. A check of Woodlee’s vehicle a short time later revealed the passenger side window had been shot out and there were bullet holes on the inside of the door. Lawmen also said they found 9 mm shell casings around his vehicle, suggesting they may have fallen out when he got out of his vehicle outside his home. Matheny said a 9 mm was used to shoot up the fire halls.

“There was also a strong odor of alcohol in the vehicle, and that, combined with the fact he forgot to roll down his window before opening fire make us suspect he may have been drinking around the time of the crime,” Matheny said.

Evidence found at the scene is being processed by the crime lab. Lawmen expect the bullet casings found outside Woodlee’s vehicle to match those found at the fire hall, thereby building a scientific case to go along with the circumstantial evidence.

According to Matheny, the civil rights violation was added to the vandalism charge because investigators believe the actions were committed to intimidate the volunteer firemen from doing their official duties.