Woman accused of shooting Wake County attorneys will remain in jail without bond

The woman accused of shooting two attorneys outside of the Wake County Courthouse in downtown Raleigh will remain in jail without bond.

Gwendolyn White, 57, appeared in court on Tuesday morning on two counts of attempted murder in connection with the shooting last Friday in downtown Raleigh. Her mental health was called into question as attorneys discussed a competency exam for her.

White opted for a court-appointed attorney when asked by Judge Rashad Hauter. If convicted, she could face up to 65 years in prison.

The next court date was scheduled for June 15 at 9 a.m. On Tuesday, some showed up outside the justice center in support of White. 

Wake County chief public defender Deonte' Thomas said White's attorney will not be from Wake County.

"We will be assigning a qualified and experienced attorney from out of [Wake] County," Thomas said. "That would be in the best interest of Ms. White and to make sure that there isn't even an appearance of impropriety since the victims are Wake County attorneys."

In a search warrant filed by the Raleigh Police Department, officers documented a recent accusation that White threatened to carry out a shooting at a medical facility. The police document does not specify how recent the alleged threat happened.

According to the warrant, officers believe White is experiencing a severe mental crisis and has an extensive mental health history documented with the department.

White had filed more than a dozen civil lawsuits dating back to 2009, according to court filings. A records search revealed that authorities responded to calls for service made by White at least six times between 2019 and 2022. 

The lawsuits reflect her various claims, including that her mother was killed due to poor medical care, her neighbors were poisoning her and that the Rolesville Police Department was conspiring against her.

White previously had an order filed against her preventing her from filing civil lawsuits by herself.

“I promise you, legally to get revenge in court,” White wrote in a post from February.

Of the 16 lawsuits, she represented herself in 12 of them.

It led a Wake County Judge to file a Gatekeeper Order against her in 2023. 

“[White] has initiated civil actions not well grounded in fact for the improper purposes of harassing and tormenting Plaintiff and her family and causing Plaintiff to expend unnecessary legal fees in her defense,” a court filing reads.

“A Gatekeeper’s Order is found to prevent that person from filing any other claim unless they have an attorney,” NC Central law professor Irving Joyner said. “The court has determined that these frivolous cases are continuing to be filed, then they must act in order to protect the integrity of the court and then to protect the individuals who are targeted by these claims.”

“By the time I met her,” Seth Blum, a former attorney for White said, "the court system was getting sick of her coming in and demanding action.”

>> Former attorney of Gwendolyn White speaks out, calls for more mental health resources

Blum represented White after a neighbor filed a restraining order against her.

“She called police on her neighbors dozens of times, I think it was 37 times,” Blum said. “Ms. White had a fixed belief that her neighbors were poisoning her through her air conditioning system, which there is no evidence at all that that’s true. It was pretty clear that Ms. White was suffering and her neighbors were suffering because of her untreated mental illness at that time.”

“Every Gatekeeper’s Order does not involve someone who has mental issues, but there are instances, clearly, where people who have mental issues might be filing these frivolous claims,” Joyner said.

Joyner said that because White hadn’t committed a crime, her mental health was never addressed by the civil court. 

“When you take that a person is acting weird, that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s a mental health issue or is something worthy of a mental health evaluation treatment,” Joyner said. “You have to file an action for involuntary commitment. In those situations, you put yourself in a very precarious situation when you’re making that claim against someone and you don’t have a real factual basis other than a hunch.”

Shooting shines light on threats lawyers face 

According to the American Bar Association, threats against lawyers are on the rise. 

That’s a reality that’s played out in and around Raleigh in recent years.

 In 2022, 42-year-old attorney and Raleigh resident Patrick White was shot and killed by a client inside this office. The client then turned the gun on himself 

In 2018, a man drove by the Dysart Willis offices on Blount Street and fired multiple rounds into the building - in the middle of the afternoon

“I do not work in the same county where I live on purpose, because, because of what I do,” said Durham Attorney Cheri Patrick.  

Patrick says, like many legal professionals, she’s gotten threats in her career. The American Bar Association advises lawyers to consider securing both their office and home because of threats Patrick says she’s already done that - including with panic buttons and bear spray. 

“Most of my colleagues have similar steps in place,” said Patrick.  “We do talk about if somebody thinks of something new.”

Neighbor felt White 'seemed off,' regularly voiced grievances

Looking into White's past, WRAL Investigates found that she filed 16 civil cases in 17 years.

White will be at the Wake County courthouse to hear the criminal charges against her and learn what's next in her legal journey after investigators say she fired multiple shots in an alleyway Friday, targeting two attorneys.

White's most recent civil case came against the Rolesville Police Department.

A quick look at her Facebook page showed White was a prolific poster on social media, and the content of her posts mirrors her legal history.

A neighbor told WRAL about an interaction he had two years ago when he said White told him she believed she was being poisoned.

"We wanted to keep our distance just in case," said Aundrey Drummond. "After reading her Facebook profile, we saw what she was getting into with the neighbors. She swore her house was bugged ... she seemed a little off, but we’ll just make sure we keep our distance."

White was arrested moments after investigators say she opened fire on attorneys Mary Harris and Jeffrey Whitley. They were representing the town of Rolesville in a case filed by White.

Harris and Whitley survived the attack and are recovering.