CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. — A Jefferson County Man Could Face Up to 89 Years in Prison After Shooting at Sheriff’s Deputy and Other Charges.
David Bernhard Gillis (Jefferson County Prosecutor’s Office)
Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney, Matt Harvey tells The Panhandle News Network that on Monday, March 31, 2025, David Bernhard Gillis, age 19, of Kearneysville, was sentenced to the maximum penalty of 24 years to 89 years in prison for 10 felony and 14 misdemeanor convictions. Two months earlier, on January 31, 2025, a jury returned guilty verdicts for two counts of Attempted Unlawful Assault of a Law-Enforcement Officer, four counts of Wanton Endangerment Involving a Firearm, two counts of Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony, three counts of Assault, one count of Destruction of Property, and five counts of Shooting Across a Roadway. On January 23, 2025, Defendant pled to and was convicted of one count of Transporting a Controlled Substance (Fentanyl) into the State, one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl and six misdemeanor offenses.
The Defendant’s convictions arose from a traffic stop on Old Leetown Pike on November 29, 2023, at approximately 5:26 PM. Gillis was operating a Mercury sedan and was pulled over by Sgt. Vincent Tiong of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department for speeding 75 in a 45 mile per hour zone. Sgt. Tiong ordered Gillis to stay at the rear of Gillis’s vehicle while he went inside his cruiser to run his Gillis’s operator information and write a ticket. After about a minute, Gillis ran across Old Leetown Pike. Within seconds after Sgt. Tiong exited his cruiser to pursue, Gillis fired two shots at Sgt. Tiong. One of the shots hit Sgt. Tiong’s cruiser between the driver’s door and the rear passenger door where Sgt. Tiong was seconds before.
Sgt. Tiong could not safely return fire because of vehicle traffic on Old Leetown Pike. Gillis fled towards Dove Hill Drive on the opposite side of the roadway and then fired three more shots at Sgt. Tiong causing Sgt. Tiong to take cover behind Gillis’s vehicle. Gillis continued to flee. Police officers from multiple agencies responded to the scene in an attempt to capture Gillis. A helicopter from the Maryland State Police also responded to the scene.
Gillis was eventually captured on Darke Lane a mile and a half away about an hour later. He was unarmed.
Upon searching Gillis’s vehicle, police found Gillis’s phone and capsules of Fentanyl. A search of Defendant phone and the retrieval of data from his cell provider revealed that Gillis went to Baltimore five days earlier and purchased 50 capsules of Fentanyl to sell in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties.
On December 5, 2023, a .38 Taurus 5-shot silver revolver was found by a horse trainer on a farm a ½ mile from where he captured. The firearm was fully loaded. Shell casings found
before the top of Dove Hill Drive show Gillis reloaded his firearm. The State called an expert witness from the West Virginia State Police Forensic Laboratory who confirmed that the shell casings found on Dove Hill Drive were fired in the recovered .38. A trace of the firearm revealed that the owner of the firearm lived on Darke Lane and Defendant stole the firearm from the owner.
“This long prison sentence sends the message that we respect and will protect those that protect us,” said Prosecuting Attorney Matt Harvey.” “Sgt. Tiong has dedicated the last 20 years of his life to serving the citizens of Jefferson County; but more than that, he is a colleague, friend, husband and father who almost didn’t make it home that night,” said Harvey. “Thankfully, his training and instincts saved his life that night,” Harvey said.
This case was investigated by DFC. Stipanovic, Sgt. Forman and Lt. Holz of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys Neil Zahradnik and Greg Jones. The Honorable Bridgette Cohee presided.
