Suspect Arrested After Wilkes County Shooting

A man has been charged following a shooting in Wilkes County. As previously reported, a NC Highway Patrol Trooper aided a wounded subject following a vehicle stop.

On Wednesday, January 7th at approximately 9 a.m., Trooper A.T. Hall witnessed a passenger vehicle on Christian Home Church Road run a stop sign while making a left turn onto Traphill Road, in Wilkes County. Trooper Hall then activated his blue lights and siren and conducted a traffic stop in a church parking lot.

Once the vehicle came to rest, the driver requested assistance stating he had been shot. The driver then collapsed to the ground. Trooper Hall immediately started to render life saving aid while relaying pertinent information the SHP Newton Communications Center that could then be disseminated to the Wilkes County 911 Center.

According to the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office, the victim, 41-year-old Christopher Lee Bowers of Hays was transported to Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital where he was treated and released for a gunshot wound. The shooting is reported to have occurred in the Traphill community.

27-year-old Riley E. Billings of Traphill has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. Billings has been released under a secured bond of $14,9999.