Man gets 5 years probation for shooting into sons home

A judge barred an 84-year-old Ashford man from contacting his son over the next five years.

A dispute between Bufford Harris and his son, Ray Harris, turned into gunfire in March 2008. Houston County Sheriff’s investigators arrested Bufford Harris and charged him with multiple felony counts of shooting into an unoccupied building or vehicle. Harris has been held in the Houston County Jail without bond since his arrest.

Harris pleaded guilty to a single felony charge last month in front of Circuit Court Judge Larry Anderson.

Anderson sentenced Harris on Friday to serve five years of probation, which included several conditions. Anderson ordered Harris to wear a tracking bracelet as part of his probation.

“You shall have no contact with your son or his wife or his property,” Anderson said. “You’re not to go around there, and you’re not to call him.”
Harris faced one to 10 years in prison for the class C felony conviction.

Deputies charged Harris with shooting at Ray Harris’ home near Pansey. No one was injured in the shooting. Bufford Harris was charged with using a .38-caliber handgun to shoot the front door of the home, along with shooting the unmarked Dothan Police car which belonged to his daughter-in-law, Willie Harris. Ray Harris worked as a Dothan police code enforcement officer at the time of the shooting. 

During the hearing, Anderson questioned whether Ray Harris wanted his 84-year-old father to serve time in prison for the shooting.
Ray Harris said the shooting has left him afraid for his own safety, along with his family’s safety.

“I’m just afraid if he’s out we’ll have to go through this again,” Ray Harris said.

Assistant District Attorney Arthur Medley argued to the court that the shooting was the result of an ongoing dispute over a shotgun. Medley said Bufford Harris intended to get a shotgun that belonged to him from his son, even if he had to kill his son to get it.

“This is to some extent a family matter,” Anderson said. “Then there are two Dothan police officers afraid of an 84-year-old man.”

Medley argued that it was an ongoing dispute that escalated over time.

“Officers or not, they can still get shot and get killed,” Medley said.

Billy Joe Sheffield II, who represented Bufford Harris, argued his client had never been in trouble before and had retired from a career of serving his country in the military.

“We don’t think he’s a threat any longer,” Sheffield said.