Police have issued arrest warrants for country singer Billy Joe Shaver after he shot and wounded a man outside a Texas bar, the entertainer's attorney said.

After Shaver left a bar in Lorena on Saturday night, a drunk, aggressive stranger with a knife followed him into the parking lot, said attorney Joseph A. Turner of Austin. Shaver shot him in self-defense, he said.

Police in Lorena, about 80 miles north of Austin, issued arrest warrants late yesterday (April 2) on charges of aggravated assault and possessing a firearm in a prohibited place, Turner said.

Shaver attempted to surrender to Austin police last night but was not arrested because the police did not have a record of the warrants, said Turner, who accompanied Shaver. Lorena authorities could not be reached for comment early today.

"We're working with the police to get this resolved," Turner told the Associated Press. "His priority is dealing with this issue."

The shooting occurred at 8:30 p.m. Saturday outside Papa Joe's Texas Saloon, according to Lorena police. The victim was shot in the cheek but was talking and alert afterward, police said. He was hospitalized.

Turner declined to elaborate or say whether anything occurred inside the bar between Shaver and the victim. He said Shaver did not know the man.

Shaver, who lives in Waco, about 15 miles from Lorena, rose to country music stardom in the 1970s.


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