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Show Man Charged in Parking Lot Shooting TROPIC A late evening shooting episode at Bryce Valley High School Friday, resulted in an Air Force sergeant being sent back to his base in Wyoming and a local .man diargedwiUiaggrajate , assault, a third degree felony, William Richards, 19, Tropic, appeared before Judge John. W. Yardley, Garfield County Justice of the Peace, for arraignment and is , being held in Garfield County Jail in lieu of $5,000 baiil. Cedar City attorney John Shumate who serves as Garfield County Public Defender was appointed to defend Richards who faces a possible five year prison sentence and or a $5,000 fine, Sgt. William Crawford Felder, 26, was returned to Warren Air Force Base near Cheyenne,Wyo. Sunday. Richards is charged with shooting a small caliber rifle at Felder as Felder was turning his vehicle to leave the school parking lot. A projectile which had penetrated the right rear door of the Chevy suburban,- a governmentTowned vehicle, lodging in the seat was later .extracted iiiiy-i Garield?iJCounty8 Sheriff's deputies. '. - The shooting apparently capped off a series of events which took place between 10:45 p.m. and 11:45 p.m. at. the high school parking lot. Deputy Bruce Heywood who investigated the incident said that Felder had stated that he had gone to the school to meet a young lady who had invited him to attend the dance which followed the basketball game earlier in the evening. Heywood said that Felder stated that he spoke from his vehicle to a young lady in the parking lot. The young lady, said Heywood, interpreted Felder's remarks to be offensive and reported them to several nearby male friends who subsequently engaged in conversation with Felder. As the conversation apparently become more agitated, Richards is alleged to have aablained. -agTiflarom a nearby . 'vehicle,"hbt his ownTTHe' is" reported to have returned toward Felder, who, seeing the weapon, started to drive from the parking lot as a shot was fired. Investigating the incident, deputies Heywood and John Niemann talked with Felder at the Dog House Saloon at Pink Cliffs where he had gone following the event. Officers took his statement and extracted the bullet from his .vehicle. H They also took a statement from "the juvenile and were attempting to locate for a statement the young lady whom Felder said had invited him to the dance. On Tuesday, Sheriff Vic Middleton said that a small caliber rifle suspected of being the weapon involved and the extracted bullet had been sent to ballistics experts in Salt Lake City. He said the investigation is continuing. Felder was part of an Air Force crew that had been working at Bryce Canyon Airport, surveying a site for the Air Force for use in March or April. The site will encompass a shed-like building which will house a navigating transmitter for Air Force use. |