Mayle

PHILIPPI — A Barbour County man is behind bars after allegedly trying to shoot a woman and a juvenile during a reportedly drunken incident.

Anthony Leon Mayle Sr., 72, of Philippi, has been charged with two counts of attempted murder, and three counts of wanton endangerment involving a firearm, all felonies.

He is being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $400,000 cash/surety bond.

According to the criminal complaint, prepared by Cpl. Parks of the Barbour County Sheriff’s Department, on Saturday at about 11:15 p.m., the officer was dispatched to a call regarding domestic violence involving firearms on the Proudfoot Road in Philippi.

Officers made contact with three witnesses — two women and a juvenile — and obtained written statements from them, the complaint states. The witnesses stated that they left the Barbour County Fairgrounds that evening with Mayle, who was “very intoxicated.”

Upon arriving at the Proudfoot Road residence, the witnesses hid his firearm, due to Mayle being drunk, but he began asking where the gun was, according to the complaint. He allegedly began yelling that he wanted his gun back “or else,” and one of the women shouted, “Tony, don’t shoot me” and ran into a back room to distance herself from him.

Witnesses said that, a few moments later, Mayle walked into the back room, told the woman, “This is what you get,” and pointed a “silver revolver” at her and pulled the trigger, the complaint states. Witnesses said they heard the gun “make a clicking noise” after Mayle pulled the trigger.

At that point, the juvenile “ran up to (Mayle) and grabbed the firearm, pointing it in a safe direction, trying to retrieve the firearm” according to the complaint. The juvenile and the second woman then “both tried to retrieve the firearm; during the struggle, (the juvenile) struck (Mayle) in the face trying to gain control of the firearm.”

Witnesses said that during the struggle, Mayle “tried to discharge the firearm a second time” but the juvenile’s finger “stopped the hammer from hitting the ammunition, preventing the firearm from discharging,” the complaint states. The juvenile then “choked (Mayle) to sleep” to prevent the incident from escalating further.

Once Mayle was unconscious, the two women and the juvenile left the scene in a car, the complaint states.