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No Jail Time for Lynchburg Officers who Shot Homeowner

Two Lynchburg police officers will serve probation and perform community service for shooting a homeowner.

The officers were set to stand trial Monday on unlawful wounding and other felony charges.  Instead, Edward Ferron and Savannah Simmons each pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of reckless handling of a firearm.  A judge suspended their jail sentence.  They will serve two years of unspervised probation and perform community service.

In February 2018, the officers were investigating an open door at a home when they shot the homeowner in the leg.  Walker Sigler was shot through the closed front door as his pregnant wife and young children slept upstairs, according to a statement from his attorney.  "He has and continues to suffer excruciating pain and will require treatment throughout his life for these devastating injuries," attorney John Lichtenstein writes.

The officers are on unpaid administrative leave because the department’s internal review is still underway.  A statement from the police department says the incident "highlights the fact that police officers around the country are asked to make split-second, life-changing decisions every day, often based on limited and incomplete information available at the time."

David Seidel is Radio IQ's News Director.