SC felon sentenced for shooting York County trooper with ‘cop killer’ bullets
A South Carolina felon who was recently out of prison when he shot a state trooper will spend at least 35 years in prison.
Willie Bernard Wright pleaded guilty Wednesday in York County criminal court to attempted murder, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm during a violent crime, and failure to stop for a police officer. Wright, 28, of Gaffney, shot S.C. Highway Patrol trooper Paul Wise on June 2, 2019, 16th Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett said in court. Wise was wounded but survived.
South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Dan Hall accepted the plea and sentenced Wright to 35 years. The plea was negotiated between York County prosecutors and Wright’s lawyer, Todd Rutherford of Columbia, testimony showed Wednesday.
Wright apologized for shooting the officer
Wright said in court he was sorry for his actions.
“I apologize to Trooper Wise and his family,” Wright said. “I wish I could have made a better decision. I hope some day he can forgive me for it.”
Wise said in court that his two young sons didn’t expect him to be alive after he was shot.
“If it wasn’t for the windshield and my vest, I wouldn’t be here,” Wise said.
Wise attempted to stop Wright for a traffic violation, Brackett said. Wright fled in the car, then jumped out of the car and fired several times at Wise, Brackett said.
“As Trooper Wise arrived, the defendant popped out of his car and began shooting multiple times,” Brackett said in court. “One of the rounds went through the windshield and the ballistic vest the trooper was wearing. It struck him in the chest. If it wasn’t for the windshield and vest, he might have died.”
Wright used armor-piercing bullets known as “cop killers” that can penetrate vests, police and prosecutors have said in court documents and previous hearings. The gun itself is a Belgian model designed for military armor-piercing during wartime, Brackett said.
Wise returned fire and wounded Wright, Brackett said. Wright was arrested by Wise and other officers at the scene and has been in jail ever since.
Wright illegally had gun
Wright was on probation at the time of the shooting, records show. He was released from prison in 2018 after serving a six-year sentence for attempted murder, attempted armed robbery, assault, and other charges, court records show.
“Only eight months after Mr. Wright was released from prison, and he shot Trooper Wise,” Brackett said. “This defendant’s whole life has been breaking the law.”
Rutherford, Wright’s lawyer, said Wright acted rashly and wrongly in 2019 when Wright feared for his life during the traffic stop. Wright has post-traumatic stress disorder from a childhood where he was at times abandoned, and a beating while in prison, Rutherford said.
“Mr. Wright knows what he did was wrong,” Rutherford said. “He understands his guilt and accepts it.”
Federal court sentencing to come
A family pastor of Wright’s family and a close family friend who helped raise Wright both said in court that they support law enforcement and the dangerous job police have. They asked for mercy for Wright.
Hall said a message does need to be sent to the community that Wright’s actions were wrong. Hall called the police dash cam video, which showed Wright leaping from his car and shooting at Wise, “chilling.”
“Mr. Wright, you deserve to be in prison for 35 years,” Hall said.
On Dec. 3, Wright pleaded guilty in federal court to weapons charges because he was a convicted felon barred by federal law from having a gun or ammunition, according to court documents. He faces a potential of 10 additional years in federal prison from that federal conviction, testimony showed.
It has not yet been decided by a federal judge if Wright will serve a sentence of up to 10 years for weapons violations at the same time as his South Carolina prison sentence, or will serve the federal sentence in addition to the state prison term.
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 2:46 PM with the headline "SC felon sentenced for shooting York County trooper with ‘cop killer’ bullets."
