West Lake Hills police charged a local man with deadly conduct for allegedly shooting two deer on Rocky River Road last Wednesday.
Westbank resident Marshall Bradford Taylor, 22, was released on $10,000 bond Tuesday afternoon. According to the police report, a witness saw Taylor allegedly shoot at a buck from the driver’s side of his black hummer in the direction of a residence on Rocky Ridge Road around 7:30 p.m. the night of Oct. 28.
“Our main concern is that this man was shooting off a firearm within 96 feet of a residence,” investigating officer Michael De Leon said.
According to the report, the witness said he saw the Hummer depart immediately after the gunshot, but several minutes later he saw the vehicle return. The witness told police that a man got out and walked into the brush on his fence line. According to the report, the witness approached the white male and asked what he was doing. It was then, he told police, that he noticed the blood trail.
According to the report, the witness asked for Taylor’s driver’s license at which time Taylor gave it to him.
The same witness heard what he said sounded like a gunshot or firecracker earlier in the evening, while out walking his dogs. Police say they later found a second buck up the street from the first.
“He has a lifetime hunting license and a concealed handgun license; he’s educated on firearms,” De Leon said of the suspect. “He should have known better than to fire a gun within the city limits.”
Deadly conduct can be a Class A misdemeanor or a third-degree felony. The lesser charge comes when a person recklessly engages in a conduct that places another in imminent danger of serious bodily injury. The charge become a felony when, according to state law, one “discharges a firearm in the direction of (one of the following): a. one or more individuals, b. habitation, c. building or d. vehicle,” and is “reckless as whether habitation…is occupied.”
According to the report, the gun used in the alleged incident was a Colt 45 Gold Cup Trophy handgun. Police say they confiscated Taylor’s concealed handgun license because he failed to update the address within 30 days of moving back into his parents’ West Lake Hills home.
After West Lake Hills police issued a warrant, Taylor willingly turned himself into Travis County Central Booking. The Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife is also investigating the case and reportedly plans to file additional charges. In addition to criminal charges the state agency may sue Taylor for allegedly destroying property of the state.
Police are asking residents to be on the lookout for poachers as deer hunting season approaches this weekend.