Franklin County family fears gunfire outside

Louisburg, N.C. — Jackie Kent said she and her family are afraid of the gunfire around their Franklin County home, and authorities can’t do much to help.

Kent said she frequently hears gunshots in the distance from her Westwind Lane home.

“It sounds exactly like a war zone,” Kent said.

Recently, those shots have gotten closer, and one left a bullet hole in her roof.

“We could hear the loud fire of the gun and immediately you would hear this zip going through the air,” Kent said.

Kent’s husband, Joe, removed the bullet.

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Deputies have been out to investigate three times.

“They’re upset and I understand that. I was upset when they called me about it,” Franklin County Sheriff Pat Green said.

Kent’s neighbors, who live across a quarter-mile wooded area, often hold target practice. Deputies have asked them not to fire toward Kent’s home. The request is all Green said his deputies can do.

“We cannot prove that these young men were intentionally trying to shoot into the residence. They were target-practicing,” Green said.

Brandon Wiggins, who lives next door to Kent, said he and his friends have never shot toward the home.

“We’re exercising our right to have guns and to use guns in a safe manner,” Wiggins said.

Wiggins said the bullet that went into Kent’s roof didn't come from his property.

The Kents want action to be taken. They filed a misdemeanor charge against Wiggins through the magistrate's office and said they plan to file charges against his two friends.

“Somebody needs to be punished because they obviously were not getting the message of, ‘don’t shoot at us,’” Kent said.

Wiggins said he will fight back.

“I feel like we’re being harassed because every time we go out to shoot, we’re worried cops are going to come up,” Wiggins said.