Man shot in southern Wake County now faces gun charges
The man shot on Bud Lipscomb Road was also the one deputies say will face charges. Investigators call the case domestic-related and say there is no known threat to the public.
The man who was shot in southern Wake County is also now facing gun charges. Wake County deputies said James Russell, 31, of Jacksonville, was taken to the hospital after a late-night shooting on Bud Lipscomb Road, and investigators later determined he was in possession of a firearm when the incident unfolded.
Deputies were called around 10 p.m. Friday to the 2400 block of Bud Lipscomb Road near Old Stage Road in the Willow Spring area after someone reported a shooting. When they arrived, deputies found Russell with an apparent gunshot wound. Officials said his injuries were non-life-threatening.
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office said the case appears to be domestic-related. Investigators later said Russell will face charges after they determined he had a firearm at the time of the shooting. The sheriff’s office also said there is no known threat to the public.
Russell was charged with assault by pointing a gun and possession of a firearm by a felon. Under North Carolina law, pointing a gun at someone is a Class A1 misdemeanor. State law also bars anyone convicted of a felony from buying, owning, possessing, or having custody or control of a firearm under the Felony Firearms Act.
The case lands in a part of Wake County where rural roads now sit close to heavier development pressure. Bud Lipscomb Road and Old Stage Road run through the Willow Spring area, a pocket of southern Wake that has long felt different from Raleigh’s urban core but is still tied to the county’s rapid growth. Wake County’s population was estimated at 1,232,444 in 2024 and 1,257,235 in 2025, up from 1,129,410 in the 2020 Census.
Even with deputies saying there is no known threat to the public, the episode leaves nearby residents with open questions about what happened inside that Friday-night confrontation, how quickly it escalated, and who else may have been present. In a county adding residents at a fast pace, a shooting on a road like Bud Lipscomb is a reminder that domestic violence and firearms can turn a quiet stretch of southern Wake into a crime scene in minutes.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
