Shooter stays in jail with bond denied

Jun. 29—Threats and firing gunshots at a handful of law enforcement officers are actions by a Pauls Valley man that convinced a Garvin County judge to keep him in jail with bond denied.

A number of individuals, most with a badge, took the witness stand during a hearing Monday afternoon that resulted in William Philpott, 39, learning he will not be released from jail during the course of his criminal proceedings.

Philpott is facing three felony charges of shooting with intent to kill after he used a variety of pistols and rifles to fire the shots that forced some officers to take cover behind their vehicles for an hour or so back on June 18.

One of those testifying was Pauls Valley police officer Brittany McGehee, who along with her two children are neighbors of Philpott a few miles north of Pauls Valley.

"After I heard somebody screaming that they were going to kill Jerry Kraft I called the comm center," McGehee said, adding it was Philpott who was making the threats toward Kraft, who is the father of her two kids.

"I saw the defendant exit his house and threaten to kill Jerry Kraft and his kids."

McGehee said she called for back-up to help get her kids and mother safely out of the house, while also contacting Philpott's parents to see if they were OK.

"I told her I heard gunshots," McGehee said, referring to the defendant's mother, Mary Philpott.

"I told her I heard screaming outside. I asked her if she was OK. She said she thought he was having a reaction to his medication."

She said the defendant's father, Miles Philpott, got on the phone and advised against approaching the house because "it would be bad."

At some point two PV officers and one Garvin County deputy arrived at the scene. Moments after her family was safely away the gunfire began as bullets flew above their heads, into the ground and into the officers' patrol cars.

"He came out of the house and just started shooting," McGehee said, adding Philpott started with a pistol and later put on a bullet proof vest and used rifles.

Also taking the stand was Mary Philpott, who insisted her son, who goes by the first name of Bill, doesn't have mental health problems if his ADHD, or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, is kept under control.

"It's not a mental health condition but a biological, neurological problem treated by specialists," she said.

Going back to the moments leading up to the shooting incident, Philpott said they asked their son to calm down as he was screaming and firing shots, which led to his parents making the decision to drive away from the property and park on a nearby county road.

"My son has ADHD. He can be a little impulsive, sometimes a lot. I think so," she said when asked if he might have been off his medications.

"I assumed that's what caused all of this."

Also testifying were sheriff's Deputy Cody Lane and PV officers James McGaha and Ken Ferris, who all agreed Philpott's shooting kept them pinned down for over an hour.

Another deputy, Jeff Jarman, said the defendant did make a statement while being guarded at an Oklahoma City hospital in the days after the shooting incident.

"He said that he did not have a medication problem. He said that he has a neighbor problem," Jarman said from the witness stand.

Mrs. Philpott was later escorted out the courtroom when she clearly objected to some of the points being made by Garvin County Assistant District Attorney Corey Miner as he argued for bond to be denied in this case.

"There are not conditions of release that can assure the safety of the public," Miner said.

"Clearly there are mental health problems here with the defendant. Once he's out he's back in the bullet proof vest with access to a lot of firearms and we're back to square one."

Defense attorney John Coyle said the best thing for his client was to get out on bail so he can get the medical treatment "he deserves."

"I think what should happen is he needs to be out and receive the medications he's been prescribed."

District Judge Leah Edwards laid out a number legal reasons as to why she was denying bond for Philpott, who was wearing an orange inmate suit and a cast on his entire left arm from gunshot injuries coming moments before his arrest.