WYOMING COUNTY, W.V. — A Wyoming County man faces multiple felony charges after deputies say he forced his wife from a residence in the Oceana area Tuesday morning, then held her beside him while pointing a handgun at his own head.
The Wyoming County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were called about a physical domestic incident around 7 a.m. Sept. 22. Investigators said Jerry Browning had allegedly kicked in the door of a home where his wife was staying and taken her against her will.
Sergeant Tyler Sizemore and Deputy D. Phillips searched for Browning’s vehicle and found him and the woman at an abandoned residence in the Turkey Creek area. According to the sheriff’s office, Browning was holding a black handgun to his head while keeping the woman at his side.
Sizemore began negotiating with Browning as additional deputies and officers from the West Virginia State Police and Oceana Police Department responded. Authorities said they were eventually able to separate the woman from Browning and end the incident without further violence.
The woman told deputies Browning had threatened to kill both of them. She also alleged that he pulled the gun’s trigger several times and fired live rounds close to her.
Browning was charged with burglary, kidnapping, wanton endangerment and domestic battery.