Man arrested after shooting gun near Waynesboro school

The Waynesboro Police Department arrested a city man after he drunkenly fired a gun several times near a city elementary school yesterday afternoon.

Officers quickly apprehended Zachary Ray Higginbotham, 28 years old of Waynesboro, near Wenonah Elementary School, 125 North Bayard Avenue within minutes of the shooting.  No one was injured in the incident and it was not related to the school.

On Thursday at approximately 3:40 p.m., officers responded to the 200 block of North Augusta Avenue for a report of a man firing a gun in the air.  Officers arrived on scene within three minutes and located Higginbotham who matched the description given by the 911 caller.  Officers ordered Higginbotham to the ground which he initially resisted, but eventually complied.  Higginbotham, who was extremely intoxicated, had a loaded .380 semi-automatic handgun and another full magazine in his pocket.  He also had a bottle of liquor and three cans of beer.

Higginbotham faces two charges: a felony, discharging a direarm in a public place within 1,000 feet of a school; and a misdemeanor, carrying a concealed weapon.   He is currently at Middle River Regional awaiting a bond hearing.

This is the third alcohol related incident involving Higginbotham in the last ten months in Waynesboro.  He was arrested in May 2016 for a drunk driving related traffic crash that injured a Waynesboro woman who was in another vehicle.  He was arrested in January 2017 for public intoxication after an altercation on Loudoun Avenue.