Just one day after Raleigh police say a woman targeted two attorneys outside the Wake County Courthouse, WRAL News is looking into how this brings new conversations surrounding clients’ and attorneys’ safety.
Gwendolyn White, 57, now faces two counts of attempted first-degree murder in connection with the shootings of Mary Harris and Jeffrey Whitley, both attorneys representing the Rolesville Police Department in a body camera case.
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WRAL News spoke with an attorney who represented White during previous legal cases in recent years.
Seth Blum represented White during a restraining order case involving her neighbors. He said she has shown a history of struggles with mental health and shared a look into just some of the legal battles she brought on, leading up to Friday’s scene.
“Mrs. White had some significant mental health problems through the court system,” Blum said. “At the time that I had represented her, she had called the police on her neighbors dozens of times, I think it was 37 times.”
When Blum first heard of Friday’s shooting, he said that he was hurt for the two attorneys who were shot, mostly because he believes this could have been prevented had White received the proper mental health resources.
Blum told WRAL News he was contacted indirectly by a colleague after the incident, because he was one of the multiple attorneys police believe White potentially could have targeted.
WRAL News has reached out to learn more about the current status of the two attorneys who were shot. We have not heard back.
