APD investigating after CSX freight car hit
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Although Atmore Police Department detectives admit they have little to go on, they are in the midst of an investigation into a January 3 incident in which someone fired several shots into the side of a CSX freight car.
Police reports show the incident happened around 10:15 p.m. as the train was stopped to service a local industry. The car that was shot sat at the rail crossing off U.S. 31 and Pinehaven Road, about two miles west of Atmore Country Club.
APD Sgt. Darrell McMann said officers and investigators “didn’t see any shell casings” in the area from which CSX employees reported the shots were fired and are as yet unable to determine what type of weapon was used.
If a suspect is eventually identified and arrested, he or she would face a charge of discharging a firearm into either an occupied or unoccupied building, vehicle or train, depending upon the circumstances.
According to Alabama Criminal Code 13A-11-61, “no person shall shoot or discharge a firearm, explosive or other weapon which discharges a dangerous projectile into any occupied or unoccupied dwelling or building or railroad locomotive or railroad car, aircraft, automobile, truck or watercraft in this state.”
There are two levels of criminality that could evolve from such an incident. If there was a person inside the train car that was hit, the crime is a Class B felony, punishable upon conviction by a minimum of two years — and a maximum of 20 years — in prison, plus a fine of up to $30,000.
If there was not a person in the train car, such a shooting is a Class C felony, for which a conviction would bring a minimum sentence of 366 days (one year, one day) in prison, and a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and a fine up to $15,000.