GASTON COUNTY, N.C. -- A Gaston County man awaits his first court appearance, after police say he threatened his wife with a shotgun while trying to break into his own home.
Corey Scott Hart, 48, faces three counts of assault on a law enforcement officer with a firearm, domestic assault, and discharging a firearm. He is in Gaston County jail without bond.
Gaston County police say they were called to Hart’s home on Horseshoe Lake Road near Mountain Island Lake around 3 a.m. Sunday by Hart’s wife, who said her husband was breaking into their home with a gun.
When officers arrived, they said they heard a gunshot and saw Hart climbing through a window. According to police, Hart picked up a gun, and that’s when Officer J.P. Brienza shot him. Magistrate’s warrants describe Hart’s gun as a 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun.
Neighbor Mary Rose Coleman says the Harts live just on the other side of the woods next to her house. She didn’t hear the gunshots in the middle of the night, but she saw the commotion afterward.
“There was a lot of racket going on down there, so I decided to walk around the corner,” says Coleman. “I saw crime scene tape, like CSI, I thought something must be going on.”
She learned about what had happened, and it surprised her because the winding, lakeside road she lives on is usually so quiet.
“I was kind of surprised to see it,” says Coleman, “and being that I'm just around the corner from it, I was kind of a little bit concerned.”
Neither police nor the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office have any record of a restraining order ever filed against Hart and Gaston County Police Capt. Joe Ramey says there have been no calls for service for domestic violence at the home.
Hart has at least one previous conviction for assault in 1989, and an arrest for assault on a female in 1993. A family friend told NewsChannel36 on Sunday that Hart’s family, even his wife, was surprised about what happened.
Officer Brienza is on administrative leave while the case is investigated by the SBI. Leave is standard practice for officers involved in shootings with suspects.
