Man charged with assault

A Salem man is being charged locally with several felonies after authorities say he was involved in assaulting a man by firing shots at him on his property.

Terry Lynn Hedrick, 55, is being charged with a class B felony of assault in the first degree, two charges of felony armed criminal action, a class B felony of unlawful use of a weapon and misdemeanor peace disturbance.

According to a probable cause statement from the St. Francois County Prosecutor’s Office, on May 20 the St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department was called to the 2400 block of Route N for a disturbance that involved shots being fired. The deputy was told that both victims ran into the woods and were waiting for help to arrive.

One of the victims told the deputy he saw a man, later identified as Hedrick, fire two rounds at the man’s boss. The man began to drive away and that’s when Hedrick fired shots at him, which caused him to run a John Deere Gator he was driving into a tree.

The man said he saw Hedrick grab a scoped rifle out of his truck and began firing rounds at him. He told the deputy he got off the Gator and ran into the woods.

The boss said he was mowing his yard near his driveway when Hedrick, who he knew from the past, pulled up next to him in his driveway.

The boss said once Hedrick was next to him Hedrick pointed a 10-gauge shotgun at him through his truck window. He told the deputy that Hedrick demanded he turn off his lawn mower and throw his phone on the ground.

The man said he complied and then Hedrick fired two rounds at his phone, with the second one destroying his phone. The man said after Hedrick shot the phone he told the man he was going to kill him.

The man said Hedrick looked away for a brief moment and it gave him an opportunity to run away from the area. The man told the deputy he ran toward his neighbor’s house and while running he saw his employee coming down the yard in his Gator.

The man said Hedrick yelled that he was going to kill them both and then he heard several more shots being fired. While the deputy looked over the area where the incident happened he found three 10-gauge Winchester shells and three 7 mm Remington rounds near the lawnmower. He also found an indention in the ground where the cell phone was shot.

The deputy found several pieces of the phone around a nearby shrub and up the driveway he saw the Gator with two flat tires and a bullethole in the bed of the vehicle.

The next day the man who owned the property came by the sheriff’s department and spoke with another deputy. He turned in bullet fragments that were located inside the tires of the John Deere Gator.

Hedrick is not in custody and is wanted on a $150,000 bond. His warrant was issued on June 6 and anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact their local law enforcement agency.

Before the filing of charges, his family reported him as missing. 

Renee Bronaugh is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-518-3617 or rbronaugh@dailyjournalonline.com