In an affidavit, police said Washington County State's Attorney Scott Williams, who was inside the building that houses DCF, heard the shots and when he got to the scene, he saw Herring standing near Sobel's body holding a .270-caliber hunting rifle. Williams was able to get the gun from her and he and bystanders subdued her.
When police arrived, Herring was "very calm and laughing," the affidavit said. Later on, she was still talking about the shooting "like it was no big deal," officers said.
However, during an interview Friday night, Herring became agitated,
saying that police had never helped her when her boyfriend beat her and complaining about the injustices she suffered at the hands of DCF.
The court records also show that Herring left two phone messages for her brother, Dwayne Herring, about two hours before Sobel was killed. In the first, she urges him to call her immediately. Four minutes later, she left a message saying: "Watch the news and you'll wish you got ahold of me earlier."