Key Takeaways
- Darryl Avery Fulton, 59, was jailed without bond after firing at his own car while Essence Larita Abraham was driving it away from a Raleigh Sheetz.
- Fulton fired several shots into the air before turning the gun on his vehicle, which Abraham had taken while it was running in the parking lot.
- One of the rounds struck the Raleigh Police Department’s Northwest District station across the street, which was occupied at the time, though no one was hurt.
- Abraham, 29, was found nearby still in the car and charged with felony larceny of a motor vehicle and felony possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
- Fulton faces four charges including felony discharge of a weapon into an occupied vehicle and felony discharge of a weapon into occupied property.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
RALEIGH, NC — A 59-year-old Raleigh man whose car was taken from a Sheetz parking lot early Wednesday is now in jail without bond. He is accused of shooting at the car while the woman who took it was still behind the wheel. According to court records, one of the rounds hit an occupied police station across the street.
Raleigh police said Darryl Avery Fulton was inside the Sheetz on Glenwood Avenue around 2:50 a.m. Wednesday when a woman got into his running vehicle and started driving away, as reported by The NC Beat.
She pulled away. Fulton fired several shots into the air, police said. Then he allegedly turned the gun on his own car. Several rounds hit it.
One round went somewhere else. According to court records, it struck the Raleigh Police Department’s Northwest District station, directly across Glenwood Avenue from the gas station. The building was occupied at the time. No one was hurt.
Officers found the woman nearby, still in the car, and arrested her. Police identified her as Essence Larita Abraham, 29. She was not injured. Her arrest warrant states the “defendant was extremely intoxicated, defendant took the vehicle while it was running at a store.”
Abraham is charged with felony larceny of a motor vehicle and felony possession of a stolen motor vehicle. She is being held in the Wake County Detention Center under a $25,000 bond.
Fulton faces four charges:
- felony discharge of a weapon into an occupied vehicle
- felony discharge of a weapon into occupied property
- misdemeanor discharge of a firearm within city limits
- misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon
He is in the same jail, and he was denied bond. In the release order, the judge noted that Fulton has no relevant criminal history and no history of failing to appear in court. The judge also wrote that he “was also the victim of his vehicle being stolen.”
I understand the gut reaction. You look up and your car is rolling away with a stranger in the driver’s seat. But a firearm is for one thing: an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm. Nothing in the police account describes the woman threatening anyone. She was driving away. A car is property, and deadly force is not a tool for getting property back.
The shots into the air are not harmless either. Every round comes down somewhere, and every round aimed at a moving car keeps going if it misses. Here, one ended up inside an occupied police station. You own every round that leaves your gun.
More from USA Carry:
This is a mindset problem, not a gear problem. When the gun comes out has to be settled long before 2:50 a.m. in a gas station parking lot. If you have not decided ahead of time, adrenaline and anger will decide for you. Police found the car nearby with the woman still in it.
The charges against Fulton and Abraham are allegations. Each is presumed innocent unless convicted. Both were scheduled to appear in court Thursday afternoon.
