Woman accused of shooting two attorneys appears in Wake County court
Gwendolyn White appeared in Wake County court on two attempted murder counts after two attorneys were shot outside the courthouse, renewing safety fears downtown.
A woman accused of shooting two attorneys outside the Wake County Courthouse appeared in Wake County court Tuesday and remained jailed without bond. Gwendolyn White, 57, faces two counts of attempted first-degree murder in a case that has pushed courthouse security to the center of attention in downtown Raleigh.
The attorneys identified in the case are Mary Harris and Jeffrey Whitley, who were representing the Rolesville Police Department in a legal battle involving White. The shooting happened after a civil court case ended, turning a routine court-day exit into a violent scene just outside one of Wake County’s most visible government buildings.
Court documents said White did not remember the shooting, and that detail will likely become part of the legal fight ahead as prosecutors pursue the attempted murder charges. The accusations already mark the case as one of the county’s most serious criminal matters, with the courthouse itself, not just the people involved, now part of the story.
The Wake County Courthouse reopened Tuesday after the shooting, but the incident raised fresh concern about security in and around the Justice Center complex. Attorneys, witnesses, jurors and courthouse workers all move through that area daily, and the attack forced a harder look at how safe the walk in and out of court really is.
Safety concerns extended beyond the building’s doors to nearby public spaces, including the Justice Center Cafe area where employees and visitors were left weighing whether it was still safe to be there. Justice Center Cafe employee Samar Eido expressed concern about that uncertainty, underscoring how quickly violence outside a courthouse can ripple through the downtown blocks around it.
White’s court appearance kept the case moving through the legal system, but it also highlighted the vulnerability of the people who depend on the courthouse for ordinary business. For Wake County’s legal community and for the public entering downtown Raleigh each day, the shooting turned a courthouse doorway into a question of accountability and protection.
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