Agreement postpones legal action against Garland gun range

Rowlett police are still investigating the incidents to determine the definite origin of the bullets.

Garland Public Shooting Range

The city of Rowlett was set to move forward with a hearing seeking an injunction against the Garland Public Shooting Range in the 95th District Court at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, February 7. But at about 8:15 a.m., a signed Rule 11 Agreement was reached between the city and James Day, the owner of the gun range.

"We met with James Day and his attorney for a settlement conference on Friday and he agreed to make the changes, but until Tuesday morning we did not have a signed agreement," said David Berman, city attorney. "We have a signed agreement. It is enforceable. We have the authority to move for sanctions or reschedule the hearing if he fails to comply."

The changes being made include an additional range officer added to the firing line, the extension of the overhead visors on the rifle range portion of the shooting range and raising the berm to 20 feet, pending city of Garland approval. Under the terms of the agreement, Day has 30 days make the changes. Until the changes are made, no firearms 30-caliber or greater in size will be allowed at the range.

The legal situation began when Rowlett police were called to two homes on January 16 after homeowners complained their homes were hit by bullets. The first complaint was called in at approximately 7:03 p.m. for a residence in the 3000 block of Duchess Way and the second at 7:32 p.m. for a residence in the 3200 block of Fair Oaks Drive.

The two incidents last week are the second and third within the last two years. In June 2010, Rowlett resident Michael Domin was injured when a bullet struck him while he was working in his backyard.

The city was suing on behalf of Janine and David Bowman, whose home was one those recently struck with bullets in the Castle Hills subdivision.

Despite the agreement, Day maintains the position that the bullets did not come from the gun range, while the city of Rowlett believes otherwise.

"Mr. Day has been very reasonable throughout the process. He maintains that the bullets came from another source but has agreed to make the changes to be accommodating to everyone. Moving forward, if there are more incidents, police investigators will have more to go on because they will not the bullets did not come from the gun range."

With the agreement the city has achieved what it set out to do with the lawsuit, to make the gun range safe.

"We had no intention of shutting down the gun range. We just wanted it to operate in a safe environment. If the range is safe and he has made the modifications, then later down road will know that if bullets are found in the subdivision they are not from the gun range," Berman said.

Rowlett police are still investigating the incidents to determine the definite origin of the bullets and how the incidents occurred. Anyone with information in these incidents is asked to contact the Rowlett Police Department criminal investigations division at 972-412-6215.