Two utility workers were shot early Tuesday as they worked to restore electricity after a storm in Dent County, authorities said.
Jimmy Shane Hoorhaert, born in 1967, of Highway 19 in Salem, is held in the Dent County Jail after two employees of Intercounty Electric Cooperative Association were shot while making repairs after violent storms struck the area, disrupting electrical service. One sustained a shot to the knee; and the other to his ear. Both required medical attention after they scrambled to seek cover when shots rang out after they were working on setting a meter on a customer’s property.
An ATV used to travel along the storm scene also was struck, according to an investigation by the Dent County Sheriff’s Department. Shell casings from an AR-15 were found, according to the report.
Hoorhaert is charged with two counts of second-degree assault involving special victims, armed criminal action, possession of a controlled substance and unlawful use of a weapon while in possession of a controlled substance. He is held on $500,000 bond, said Dent County Prosecutor Andrew Curley.
The charges are outlined in a seven-page report that details how the workers were struck at about 4 a.m. while working to restore power on utility rights-of-way.
Hoorhaert, who lived in a camper, claimed he thought the men were neighbors he tangled with earlier. He underwent multiple interviews and authorities executed search warrants to test for drugs and examine Hoorhaert’s property.
According to a report, deputies found methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and additional firearms in the camper. A drug test was positive, according to the report.