A man attending a lawn party in Augusta County on Saturday night got into a verbal altercation with a machine operator and said he had a gun, which quickly morphed into people spreading the story on social media that the man had threatened to shoot up the carnival.
Augusta County Sheriff Donald Smith is trying to put the rumors to rest.
“There have been many versions of this incident circulating throughout the community as to what occurred at the Weyers Cave Lawn Party that night. There is no evidence that Antonio Anderson was going to shoot up the lawn party or threatened to do so,” Smith said, per a press release from the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office that went out today.
This Antonio Anderson fellow was arrested on several charges related to the incident, which was reported via 911 at 10:49 p.m. on Saturday night.
Anderson, 26, of Staunton, left the lawn party after the verbal altercation, and deputies responding to the 911 call encountered him on Route 256 in the vicinity of the Interstate 81 northbound entrance ramp.
Anderson, per the ACSO, was intoxicated, and was uncooperative with the deputies on scene.
Anderson also had a firearm in the passenger side floorboard of his vehicle, according to the ACSO report.
The charges lodged against Anderson include DUI, carrying a concealed weapon while under the influence, obstruction of justice, and driving on a suspended license.
From what I can tell, Anderson was booked into Middle River Regional Jail in the overnight hours of Saturday/Sunday, and the photo of him used in this story is from MRRJ, but the Jail Taker app on the jail’s website does not list him as being a current inmate.
The Virginia online court information website tells us that Anderson is due in Augusta County General District Court for hearings on the charges on June 18.
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Chris Graham
