A veterinarian whose license had recently been suspended was detained following gunfire and a confrontation with a neighbor.
The incident occurred around 7 p.m. Sunday outside the home of veterinarian Emily Martin, 38, on the 4000 block of Sebastian Drive, according to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
A woman reported to authorities that her mother had been threatened by a neighbor with a gun and that a “pop” noise had been heard from the rear.
“Once on scene, I observed the subject, Emily Martin, sitting on the front steps of her residence concealing her face and crying,” a deputy wrote in an incident report. “I instructed her to walk toward me with her hands up. Ms. Martin then stood up and stumbled as she walked toward me. I then did a frisk of Ms. Martin for any weapon, finding none. I could smell a strong odor of alcohol coming from Ms. Martin’s breath, and her speech was slurred.“
According to the deputy, Martin stated that she had arrived home in her vehicle and observed a white truck in the driveway. According to the deputy, she then got a.40-caliber handgun from her vehicle and walked into her backyard.
“I have a gun if anyone is in my house,” Martin said to the deputy once she was in the backyard.
“She then pointed the firearm toward the fence and fired one round into the backyard,” the officer reported.
After looking inside for an intruder, she noticed the owner of the truck go over from a neighbor’s house and enter. The driver departed.
“Ms. Martin stated that she was afraid and then ran into the backyard again and threw the firearm over the fence of the property,” the officer reported.
The truck owner informed investigators that she had parked in the driveway for a few minutes while inside her daughter’s home. She explained that Martin’s house was regularly vacant, so she assumed parking there would be fine.
According to the officer, when the vehicle owner left, her daughter approached the edge of her driveway and observed Martin holding a gun and saying, “You’re trespassing.”
Another witness reported seeing Martin and the neighbor yelling at each other, “and he attempted to de-escalate the situation,” the deputy wrote.
A deputy discovered the rifle hidden behind the fence, upside down, barrel facing south.
A deputy reported that the gun had one cartridge in its chamber and two more in its magazine.
Martin was detained for discharge of a handgun on or near a public roadway or street and tampering with evidence, according to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
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