Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 7, 1995 TAG: 9503070088
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Michael S. Hartless, 22, pleaded guilty to the felony charge of firing a round from his .22-caliber rifle into the home of his former supervisor, Roger Smith.
Hartless had worked at Timber Truss Housing Systems Inc. for less than a year when he was fired in late June 1994 for violating company policies, Smith said after Monday's hearing.
That pink slip had Hartless seeing red.
On Aug. 8, Hartless told his co-workers ``he was going to shoot everyone responsible for his firing,'' Sgt. D.R. Divers of the Salem Police Department testified. Hartless' co-workers also told police that they spotted two guns on the back seat of his car that evening.
Less than an hour after he made the threat, a shot ripped through the Smiths' bedroom window, shattering the glass, Divers said.
The bullet went through the Smiths' bedroom wall and the door of their daughter's bedroom.
``That's why we were pretty upset about it. The bullet landed in her bed,'' where she was sleeping, Smith said.
No one was hurt in the shooting.
`` ... I guess I never thought something like this could happen here in Salem,'' Smith said.
But once it did, Smith said he immediately suspected Hartless.
The police investigation confirmed his suspicion.
At the time of the shooting, a neighbor saw a maroon Chevrolet, which police later identified as belonging to Hartless' girlfriend, outside the Smith residence on Irish Circle. A few days later, police searched the home of Hartless' brother and recovered the .22-caliber rifle used in the shooting.
Hartless surrendered to police and told them ``he had fired into the home, but he didn't know if [Smith] was home ... He blamed [Smith] for the loss of his job,'' Divers said.
It turned out Hartless had blamed the wrong person.
Although he was Hartless' foreman at Timber Truss, Smith said he was not the person who gave Hartless his walking papers.
Hartless, who could get between two and 10 years in prison, will be sentenced May 18. He was released on bond with the condition that he have no contact with the Smith family.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***