Teen given probation after Facebook clash leads to gunshots

An Idaho teen was placed on probation after a Facebook altercation ended in gunshots and a guilty plea for aggravated assault.

Eighteen-year-old Colton M. Mayberry, who was convicted of aggravated assault, was placed on supervised probation Monday for two years.

Judge Lansing L. Haynes withheld judgment, allowing Mayberry to successfully complete probation before deciding if the conviction will appear on his criminal record, the Coeur d’Alene Press reported.

“This is a kind of social media disaster,” Haynes said at Monday’s sentencing. “People can say and act and do things on social media that they wouldn’t do in a personal situation.”

Although Mayberry pleaded guilty to the felony, Haynes figured there was more to the story.

“There was probably some tough guy (talk) on both sides,” he said.

Mayberry, who had no previous criminal history, is accused of shooting the car of another teenager with a shotgun, twice, after the teen and his three friends came to visit Mayberry at his home to discuss his Facebook posts.

Stephen Koetsier, 16, and his friends exchanged verbal jabs with Mayberry on Facebook in March before Koetsier drove his mom’s car to Mayberry’s home, according to court records,

The door of Mayberry’s house was kicked in – no one took responsibility for the damage – and Mayberry appeared with a shotgun causing the boys to flee. There were two shots fired, according to court records, both resulted in buckshot striking Koetsier’s car.

Haynes ordered 100 hours of community service for Mayberry, time on the sheriff’s labor unit and ordered Mayberry not be allowed near firearms for the duration of his probation.