http://www.starnewsonline.com/articl...9802?p=1&tc=pg

The shooting

Shortly after 4 p.m. on Aug. 23, Blackburn, Wright and an unidentified woman went to Soles' Tabor City home, breached the security gate and started banging on doors and windows, special prosecutor for the Attorney General's Office James J. Coman said as he presented evidence during the hearing.

Soles ignored the attempts to get his attention so Wright drove his SUV all over the senator's lawn, causing damage. Wright and Blackburn then decided to drink liquor on Soles' dock.

After more than an hour, Wright kicked Soles' front door three times, Coman said.

“At that time he decided he needed to take matters into his own hands,” he said. Instead of calling the police, Soles shot his gun twice in the air, one of the bullets hitting Blackburn in the back of the leg.

“Unfortunately, he made a bad decision, came out and fired, and as a result Blackburn was struck,” Coman said.

Blackburn was treated at the hospital and released.

Coman's account of the events is the first official disclosure of what happened that night. After the shooting, Soles called the Tabor City police chief's cell phone, and neither the police department nor the Columbus County Sheriff's Office has a police report of the incident.

Soles' attorney Joe Cheshire said the senator didn't call the cops when Blackburn and Wright tried to break in because he was hoping the young men would leave on their own.