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Man accused in Norfolk Yacht & Country Club shooting incident appears in court

Posted at 2:36 PM, Jan 12, 2015
and last updated 2015-01-12 17:34:58-05

Norfolk, Va. - The man accused of firing a gun at the Norfolk Yacht & Country Club in early December appeared in court on Monday.

Ramon P. Ballesteros, 55, was an employee at the Norfolk Yacht & Country Club.

Police say he returned to work intoxicated and fired several shots inside and outside the club.

Ballesteros was arrested and charged with two counts of Attempted Malicious Wounding, two counts of Use of Firearm in Commission of a Felony, and one count of Willfully Discharging a Firearm in a Public Place.

In court on Monday, four of Ballesteros’ charges were certified to the Grand Jury – the two counts of Malicious Wounding and two counts of Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony.

The charge of Willfully Discharging a Firearm in a Public Place was nolle prossed.

During the preliminary hearing, the judge heard from five witnesses. The witness who provided the most new information was a detective, who interviewed Ballesteros the night he was arrested.

The detective says they had to bring in a translator who spoke Tagalog, which is the native language of the Philippines, to get Ballesteros' statement. The detective told the judge, the night Ballesteros was arrested he told police he "didn't intend to shoot anyone, but he was mad" after he got into a fight with his supervisor over cutting his hours. Ballesteros admitted to the detective after that fight, he went home on his lunch break, got his gun and 30 rounds of ammo and came back to work. The detective says Ballesteros also said he wanted to "scare them".

No word on when his case will be heard in Circuit Court.

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UPDATE: Employee in custody after shooting at Norfolk Yacht & Country Club