NAACP head target of gun case

June 02, 2010 10:15 PM
By SANFORD J. SCHMIDT and LINDA N. WELLER
The Telegraph
ALTON - The longtime president of the Alton Branch of the NAACP may face two felony charges after he allegedly fired a 9mm handgun into the air last weekend.

James E. Gray, 76, of the 900 block of Milnor Street, was taken into custody after the incident Saturday night.

On Wednesday, the Madison County State's Attorney's Office turned over potential charges of unlawful use of a weapon and reckless discharge of a firearm to a special prosecutor.

Associate Judge James Hackett ordered Gray released from the Alton City Jail on his own recognizance at 9:35 a.m. Sunday.

A spokeswoman for the State's Attorney's Office said the office was not involved in the case at the time when Gray was released. The State's Attorney's Office first reviewed the case on Wednesday.

The incident happened shortly before 10:30 p.m. Saturday on the parking lot of a convenience store, A-Town Spot, 1813 Central Ave., which is in a residential area, a report from the Alton Police Department said.

The shop was closed at the time.

Police say they recovered a loaded, Kel-Tec brand, 9 mm semi-automatic handgun from Gray's rear, right pants pocket. They say they also found a magazine containing 10 rounds of 9 mm Luger ammunition from his front, left pants pocket.

The police report says the gun's magazine contained five rounds of 9 mm Luger ammunition, but no ammunition was in the chamber.

The report says a woman and man were sitting on the front porch of a home in the 800 block of Franklin Street at the time of the incident. The woman called 911 at 10:27 p.m. Saturday to report shots fired in the 1800 block of Central Avenue, the report says.

The woman told police she saw a man standing in the street in the 900 block of Franklin, heard three shots and saw him pointing a gun in the air. She also allegedly identified Gray as the person who fired the shots, the report says.

After the woman called 911, the report says a police officer arrived at the store, but it was closed, and so she continued driving past cross-street Franklin, which runs on the north of A-Town Spot. The officer reported that she saw "an older black man wearing a black shirt, black pants, white hat in the parking lot on the east side of A-Town Spot."

Another part of the report describes the hat as being a white bandana.

The report says the officer asked the man, later identified as Gray, whether he had heard anything. It says Gray reportedly said he had not heard anything and at the time was inside his house, which is near the shop. However, the woman who reported the gunfire was watching the scene, continued talking to the dispatcher on the telephone and told her that the man who shot the gun was the person to whom police were talking.

Another officer arrived, with the first officer telling Gray to put his hands on his head.

"He began to back away" from the second officer, who then handcuffed Gray, the report says. Police say they discovered the gun and ammunition while patting down Gray.

Police unloaded the handgun and secured it and the ammunition in the patrol car, taking Gray into custody, the report says.

The report says Gray told police he could have a gun on his property, because he has a Firearm Owner's Identification card, which police later confirmed.

However, police noted in the report that Gray was not on his property at that time, but on the store's parking lot. The report says police found a spent shell casing on the driveway of Gray's home, which came from a 9 mm Luger.

In the incident report, Gray acknowledged having the gun but made no admission to firing the weapon as accused.

A third person told police she was awakened by gunfire, according to the report.

When a reporter contacted Gray on Wednesday, he declined to comment about the incident.

Madison County Public Defender John Rekowski said he is not representing Gray but anticipates that he will. He said he received a call about the incident but referred the matter to someone else because, as public defender, he was not officially representing Gray at the time.

A spokeswoman for Madison County State's Attorney Bill Mudge said the case was referred to a special prosecutor because of the longstanding relationship between the NAACP and the State's Attorney's Office.

The NAACP honored Gray on May 1 at its annual Freedom Fund Banquet with its Leadership Award for 20 years of service to the organization. He recently said he wanted to work with police and other civic groups to reduce violence among young people in Alton.


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