Man Reportedly Shoots Brother-in-law in Self Defense

The around 8 p.m. Sunday in the 1100 block of Watson Springs Road might have been an act of self defense, according to new details released by authorities Monday.

When deputies arrived on the scene, two boys, 12 and 5 years old, told them James Eric Hester, 32, had been threatening people at the residence and had fired shots into the air, said Chief Deputy Lee Weems of the . It appeared to deputies that Hester had been drinking, he added.

Brian Bowden, 31, Hester's brother-in-law, came out of the house and told deputies he shot Hester once in self defense with Hester's gun inside the home after Hester had tried to stab him multiple times with a knife, Weems said. Hester, who deputies found on the ground in the yard, was taken to and treated for a single, non-life threatening gunshot to the abdomen. 

A knife was found on the front porch, an incident report noted.

Both men lived at separate Watson Springs Road addresses, Weems said.

Witnesses, all family members of the men, backed up Bowden’s assertion of self defense, Weems said.

Investigators are waiting to speak with Hester, Weems said. 

As of noon on Monday no arrests had been made and the case remains under review, he said.

Quick-thinking on behalf of a 911 dispatcher helped remove the boys from the violence, Weems noted. The dispatcher instructed the eldest of the boys, who was one of the callers reporting the incident, to take the younger boy and go into the woods, he explained. Deputies found the boys at the end of a winding driveway, he said.