Dawson: ‘Truthfully, we didn’t think anything got hit’

Brandon Dawson, 16, had his first taste of alcohol March 26 in the form of eight or 10 beers in Slade Woodson’s car, he testified Tuesday in Albemarle Circuit Court.

That night, the teenager also committed his first crime.

After driving around for a while to forget the frustration of working on Woodson’s Isuzu Rodeo, Woodson pulled over and removed a gun out of the back seat, Dawson testified. Dawson also admitted to firing a few shots as they drove around Albemarle.

“Truthfully, we didn’t think anything got hit,” Dawson said.

Authorities spent the morning of March 27 investigating several shots fired on Interstate 64 from the Route 690 overpass and at the Ivy exit. Two people were slightly injured. Police later discovered several homes in Albemarle had been shot as well, along with a credit union, a home and a car in Waynesboro.

The incident shut down part of I-64 as investigators pieced together clues. Albemarle schools also closed for the day.

Dawson, who testified that he wasn’t thinking when he fired the gun, was sentenced Tuesday for a second time in an appeal of his case. Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Higgins suspended his sentence to a state juvenile facility in favor of 180 days in an intensive program at the Blue Ridge Detention Center.

Authorities have said Dawson admitted firing a shot off the overpass and at two homes. However, he didn’t fully realize what had happened until he saw the news coverage on television, Dawson testified Tuesday.

He told the court that he started wondering what would have happened if he had killed someone, and how he would have felt if his loved ones were injured instead.

“I was restless,” Dawson said. “I couldn’t lay down. I couldn’t eat. I was upset.”

Woodson’s trial is scheduled for Sept. 16 in Albemarle Circuit Court.

For full details from the hearing, pick up Thursday’s Daily Progress.