BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS— Bradford deputies arrested a couple near the Bradford-Clay County line after rounds from their backyard shooting spree hit a neighbor’s home.
Robert C. Godwin, 56, and Cassandra Flowers Johnson, 31, were arrested for weapons offenses on Thursday, Feb. 10.
According to an arrest report, a neighbor living near the Keystone Golf and Country Club said he heard gunfire, and then rounds striking his home.
Deputies found three bullet holes on the outside of the victim’s home and recovered three projectiles in the house, finding one 15 feet away from where the victim’s 17-year-old daughter was sleeping.
“While talking to (the victim), I was notified by dispatch that Robert Godwin called into dispatch an told them that he was shooting fireworks at his house,” wrote arresting officer Glen Ward in the report.
The victim told deputies he believed the rounds came from Godwin’s home, based on previous problems with the neighbor.
The victim’s and defendant’s properties are approximately 780 feet part, separated only by open golf course between the two parcels.
When deputies first contacted the defendants, they stuck to Godwin’s claim that they were only shooting off fireworks in the back yard.
“After separating the suspects and further questioning,” Ward wrote, “Cassandra admitted that she and Robert were both shooting guns outside.”
Godwin also admitted to shooting an AM-15 rifle while Johnson confessed to shooting a 9mm handgun.
Deputies found red markings on two of the rounds recovered in the home, which corresponded to a red ballistic tip found in the magazine of the 9mm.
Godwin admitted to being intoxicated and told deputies he was shooting the rifle to mourn the death of a close friend.
“It should be noted that both Godwin and Johnson have lived in the area for several years and are familiar with the fact that there are occupied residences close by Godwin’s house,” a deputy wrote in the arrest report. “Both were also shooting guns late at night into the darkness without a proper and safe backdrop to prevent any bullets from continuing down range to an unknown destination.”
