
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 15, 1994                   TAG: 9401150180
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ron brown
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

WOMAN SHOT DURING LESSON IN SELF-DEFENSE

A 19-year-old women was shot through the abdomen by a man giving her a midnight self-defense lesson.

Sabrina Harper required surgery at Roanoke Memorial Hospital following the 11:53 p.m. Thursday shooting and was listed in serious condition Friday afternoon.

Roanoke County Police Investigator S.C. Sturgill said alcohol was a factor in the shooting, but investigators have determined that the shooting was an accident and no charges are foreseen.

Sturgill said Harper and Michael Moran, 32, were in his Plantation Road house Thursday night when Moran started showing her how to defend herself with a .357 Magnum pistol.

The gun discharged and Harper was wounded. Police found the spent bullet in a couch.

With no phone available, Moran took Harper to the Williamson Road home of a friend, who called city 911 dispatchers.

After city police officers arrived, they found that the shooting had occurred in the county and notified county police.

- RON BROWN

by CNB