Hagerstown man pleads in case where 13 shots fired at occupied house in West End

A Hagerstown man was sentenced to five years earlier this week after pleading guilty to reckless endangerment and felony assault related to shots being fired at a house in the city's West End a year ago.

No one in the home was injured, but the defendant, Leviticus Tyrone Ricks, now 19, was shot when someone from the home shot back, according to court records.

Ricks pleaded guilty on Monday in Washington County Circuit Court to reckless endangerment for firing multiple times at the home in the 600 block of Salem Avenue on July 9, 2023, creating a substantial risk of death and serious injury to a woman, according to court documents.

He also pleaded guilty to the first-degree assault that day of a man.

According to Assistant Public Defender Carl Somerlock and a May 2022 Hagerstown Police report filed with Ricks' case docket, the July 2023 assault victim has been suspected in the past of carrying a gun.

Somerlock said in a phone interview on Wednesday that during the incident last summer the assault victim allegedly had words with two children, including a relative of Ricks' and threatened to use a firearm.

Somerlock said that, according to Ricks, the assault victim fired first last July.

The police investigation determined three adults and three juveniles were in the house at the time shots were fired at the home. Police found 13 shell casings in the alley near where Ricks was seen on surveillance video with what appeared to be a handgun, according to charging documents.

"We'll never know who shot first, but 13 rounds exceeds self-defense," Somerlock said.

The middle ground was the plea deal, he said.

Thirty-one other charges were dismissed against Ricks, the most serious of which were six counts each of attempted first-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder, according to court documents.

Assistant States Attorney Chris McCormack, who handled the case, and States Attorney Gina Cirincion, had no comment for this story.

Judge Joseph S. Michael gave Ricks a 15-year suspended sentence on the assault charge. Michael sentenced Ricks to five years in state prison on the reckless endangerment charge.

Ricks has credit for serving a little over a year already.

Once released he will be on probation for three years, the first half of which will be supervised.

Somerlock said Ricks is disqualified from owning a gun in the future.

"He's a good kid," Somerlock said of Ricks, who was 18 at the time of the shooting. Ricks made a poor decision and should have called the police, Somerlock said.

But he comes from a community that has trust issues with the police, the public defender said.

Update on October 2023 shooting case: Martinsburg man sentenced in Hagerstown shooting case

Hagerstown Police's case in July 2023 shooting

Hagerstown Police responded to the 600 block of Salem Avenue around 7:44 p.m. on Sunday, July 9, 2023, for a report of shots fired.

Surveillance video showed Ricks and another male walking in the alley behind the house before the male that police say is Ricks raises an object from his waistband and points it at the house. As he starts to run away, Ricks "appears to flinch and stumble" as if he was struck by a bullet, charging documents state.

Two witnesses in the home described the shooter to police, with one of them telling police it was "Leviticus," according to charging documents. The other witness, whom police also did not identify in charging documents, told police they retrieved a shotgun from the home and fired back at the suspect.

Ricks' injuries were "consistent with being struck with 'buckshot,'" a type of ammunition commonly used in a shotgun, according to charging documents.

A family member of Ricks' allegedly told police that family members walked from their Church Street home to the Salem Avenue house to talk to those residents "about an ongoing issue," charging documents state. As they approached to knock on the door, Ricks walked past the house toward the alley.

A few moments later, numerous gunshots were heard and Ricks' family ran back to the Church Street home, court records state. The family member allegedly told police that Ricks returned to the Church Street home with gunshot wounds.

Somerlock said Ricks was shot twice.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Hagerstown man pleads in case where Salem Avenue house shot in 2023