Thursday, March 27, 2008
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Virginia State Police were hunting Thursday for a sniper or snipers suspected of shooting at motorists along Interstate 64.
A 20-mile section of the major highway was closed overnight and into the early morning hours as officers pursued the gunman — but has since been reopened.
State police said that at least four cars were struck by bullets along an 11-mile stretch of the highway Wednesday night. A Virginia Department of Transportation vehicle was found with bullet holes near an exit for I-64 along Route 250, FOX News has confirmed.
The freeway was shut down between about midnight and 6 a.m. Thursday, and Albemarle County Schools were closed, according to the district's Web site.
State Police Sgt. David Cooper said two people reported injuries and went to hospitals in Staunton and Waynesboro. He said neither person had life threatening injuries and he didn't know if the victims were struck by a bullet or by glass.
Cooper did not know what time each shooting occurred, but said the first call came in about midnight.
I-64 was closed from 12:10 a.m. to 6 a.m. from mile marker 96 in Augusta County to mile marker 118 in Albemarle County and VDOT set up Route 250 as a detour.
Cooper said police closed a long stretch of the interstate to gather evidence. He said investigators are closely checking several interstate ramps near the shootings, as well as wooded areas near the shootings.
State police were holding a presser at 10:30 a.m. EDT Thursday, when they said they'd have updates on the case.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Virginia has another sniper
Moderators: carlson1, Charles L. Cotton
-
WarHawk-AVG
- Senior Member
- Posts: 1403
- Joined: Sat Jul 28, 2007 11:05 pm
Re: Virginia has another sniper
Oh great!
I sure hope they catch the perp or perps STAT...and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law
I sure hope they catch the perp or perps STAT...and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law
A sheepdog says "I will lead the way. I will set the highest standards. ...Your mission is to man the ramparts in this dark and desperate hour with honor and courage." - Lt. Col. Grossman
‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’ - Edmond Burke
‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’ - Edmond Burke
Re: Virginia has another sniper
I heard Va. state police are very specifically not calling it a sniper attack. They are also saying that they have protection in place, but they just aren't telling anyone what that protection entails.
NRA lifetime member
Re: Virginia has another sniper
A sniper is a specially selected millitary or police marksman tasked with precision interdiction of targets at long range. That murderer is not a sniper; he is a murderer with a rifle. Leave it to the media to mangle the facts.
Byron Dickens
-
Texasdoc
- Senior Member
- Posts: 598
- Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 10:30 pm
- Location: LaGrange, Texas
- Contact:
Re: Virginia has another sniper
here is a update to the story
Virginia Police Arrest 19-Year-Old Man in Interstate 64 Shooting Spree, Second Man in Hospital
Friday, March 28, 2008
E-Mail Print Share:
DiggFacebookStumbleUpon
Virginia State Police
Slade Allen Woodson
Slade Allen Woodson
A 19-year-old suspect was taken into custody Friday morning in connection with a shooting spree along Interstate 64, and officers exchanged gunfire with a second, armed man who confronted them during the arrest at a farmhouse, Virginia State Police said.
Col. Steve Flaherty identified the suspect as Slade Allen Woodson of Afton, Va., and said the second man whom they shot was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. He didn't know his condition.
Woodson was charged in separate shootings at a home and a credit union early Thursday, police said. He was not charged with firing shots along a rural stretch of Interstate 64, but authorities said he was considered a suspect and more charges were possible.
"We've taken some mighty big steps toward the resolution of this," Flaherty said at a news conference Friday. "Everyone can, I think, rest compared to the state that we were in overnight."
State and county police searched Yonder Hill Farm near Crozet in Albemarle County just before 5 a.m. Friday. Another man confronted them with a handgun, and was shot by a county law enforcement officer, police said. Woodson was taken into custody, and the man was taken to a hospital.
Elaine Paley, who lives on a hill overlooking the horse and cattle farm, said she was awakened at 4:40 a.m. by a helicopter flying with spotlights shining on the farm and surrounding woods.
RelatedStories
Report: Virginia Police Arrest One in Interstate 64 Shootings After Search Warrant Served Authorities were still investigating whether a second person was involved in the highway shootings, but had not yet identified anyone, they said. The Albemarle County police officer involved in the shooting is on administrative leave with pay, county Police Chief John Miller said.
The highway shootings put motorists and police on edge in a region where memories of the deadly Beltway snipers six years ago still haven't faded. Ten people were killed and three wounded during the 2002 attacks in Maryland, the District of Columbia and northern Virginia.
State and local police had been investigating whether shots fired at a bank building and in a residential Virginia neighborhood could be tied to the I-64 shootings.
Police said shots were fired at a Dupont Community Credit Union in Waynesboro, Va., between midnight and 2 a.m. Thursday — the same time police were getting reports of someone shooting at vehicles on I-64 between Waynesboro and Charlottesville.
Bullets struck a window and part of the bank building, as well as a van parked in the lot. No one was injured.
Surveillance video showed a light-colored 1970s AMC Gremlin with a dark horizontal stripe.
Police also got a call at 12:30 a.m. about shots fired in a Waynesboro neighborhood, and later discovered a bullet hole in a house along with a shell casing. A witness mentioned seeing a car that looked similar to the Gremlin — running models of which are extremely rare.
Police confiscated the car late Thursday. They found it unoccupied at the Greene and Albemarle county line.
Woodson was arrested on Jan. 18, 2007, and accused of stealing two pickup trucks and setting them on fire, according to news reports and court records.
Woodson, a former member of the high school's track and field team, was later convicted of two misdemeanor counts of petit larceny and given a suspended sentence.
On two MySpace pages created under his name, his occupations are listed as "mechanic, sorta" and "horse farm." He is described as "just a country boy who keeps gettin his heart broken!!! Ive got my heart broken twice in less then a year... i dunno wat to do.... keep gettin my heart broke or stop caring!!! and i dont wanna stop caring..."
Officers don't have a motive for the shootings.
No one was seriously hurt in the gunfire, which shut down a 20-mile stretch of I-64 overnight Wednesday into Thursday. Two people were treated and released at the hospital for very minor injuries.
At least six vehicles — four of them known to be occupied — were pelted by bullets along an 11-mile stretch of the freeway overnight Wednesday, beginning shortly before the first call came in about 12:10 a.m.
Flaherty said two cars, a van and a tractor-trailer traveling westbound were struck by bullets. An unoccupied parked Virginia Department of Transportation truck also was found riddled with bullet holes near an exit for I-64 along Route 250, and police received reports that gunmen had fired at a sixth vehicle.
He downplayed the characterization of the shooters as "snipers," saying they could just be pranksters and calling the spree a "random firing."
Shots were fired at three different known locations — from an overpass near the 106-mile marker, at a westbound off-ramp near the 114-mile marker and at a Virginia Department of Transportation outpost.
I-64 was shut down between 12:10 a.m. and 6 a.m. Thursday from mile marker 96 in Augusta County to mile marker 118 in Albemarle County.
FOX News' Catherine Donaldson-Evans and The Associated Press contributed to this report
Virginia Police Arrest 19-Year-Old Man in Interstate 64 Shooting Spree, Second Man in Hospital
Friday, March 28, 2008
E-Mail Print Share:
DiggFacebookStumbleUpon
Virginia State Police
Slade Allen Woodson
Slade Allen Woodson
A 19-year-old suspect was taken into custody Friday morning in connection with a shooting spree along Interstate 64, and officers exchanged gunfire with a second, armed man who confronted them during the arrest at a farmhouse, Virginia State Police said.
Col. Steve Flaherty identified the suspect as Slade Allen Woodson of Afton, Va., and said the second man whom they shot was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. He didn't know his condition.
Woodson was charged in separate shootings at a home and a credit union early Thursday, police said. He was not charged with firing shots along a rural stretch of Interstate 64, but authorities said he was considered a suspect and more charges were possible.
"We've taken some mighty big steps toward the resolution of this," Flaherty said at a news conference Friday. "Everyone can, I think, rest compared to the state that we were in overnight."
State and county police searched Yonder Hill Farm near Crozet in Albemarle County just before 5 a.m. Friday. Another man confronted them with a handgun, and was shot by a county law enforcement officer, police said. Woodson was taken into custody, and the man was taken to a hospital.
Elaine Paley, who lives on a hill overlooking the horse and cattle farm, said she was awakened at 4:40 a.m. by a helicopter flying with spotlights shining on the farm and surrounding woods.
RelatedStories
Report: Virginia Police Arrest One in Interstate 64 Shootings After Search Warrant Served Authorities were still investigating whether a second person was involved in the highway shootings, but had not yet identified anyone, they said. The Albemarle County police officer involved in the shooting is on administrative leave with pay, county Police Chief John Miller said.
The highway shootings put motorists and police on edge in a region where memories of the deadly Beltway snipers six years ago still haven't faded. Ten people were killed and three wounded during the 2002 attacks in Maryland, the District of Columbia and northern Virginia.
State and local police had been investigating whether shots fired at a bank building and in a residential Virginia neighborhood could be tied to the I-64 shootings.
Police said shots were fired at a Dupont Community Credit Union in Waynesboro, Va., between midnight and 2 a.m. Thursday — the same time police were getting reports of someone shooting at vehicles on I-64 between Waynesboro and Charlottesville.
Bullets struck a window and part of the bank building, as well as a van parked in the lot. No one was injured.
Surveillance video showed a light-colored 1970s AMC Gremlin with a dark horizontal stripe.
Police also got a call at 12:30 a.m. about shots fired in a Waynesboro neighborhood, and later discovered a bullet hole in a house along with a shell casing. A witness mentioned seeing a car that looked similar to the Gremlin — running models of which are extremely rare.
Police confiscated the car late Thursday. They found it unoccupied at the Greene and Albemarle county line.
Woodson was arrested on Jan. 18, 2007, and accused of stealing two pickup trucks and setting them on fire, according to news reports and court records.
Woodson, a former member of the high school's track and field team, was later convicted of two misdemeanor counts of petit larceny and given a suspended sentence.
On two MySpace pages created under his name, his occupations are listed as "mechanic, sorta" and "horse farm." He is described as "just a country boy who keeps gettin his heart broken!!! Ive got my heart broken twice in less then a year... i dunno wat to do.... keep gettin my heart broke or stop caring!!! and i dont wanna stop caring..."
Officers don't have a motive for the shootings.
No one was seriously hurt in the gunfire, which shut down a 20-mile stretch of I-64 overnight Wednesday into Thursday. Two people were treated and released at the hospital for very minor injuries.
At least six vehicles — four of them known to be occupied — were pelted by bullets along an 11-mile stretch of the freeway overnight Wednesday, beginning shortly before the first call came in about 12:10 a.m.
Flaherty said two cars, a van and a tractor-trailer traveling westbound were struck by bullets. An unoccupied parked Virginia Department of Transportation truck also was found riddled with bullet holes near an exit for I-64 along Route 250, and police received reports that gunmen had fired at a sixth vehicle.
He downplayed the characterization of the shooters as "snipers," saying they could just be pranksters and calling the spree a "random firing."
Shots were fired at three different known locations — from an overpass near the 106-mile marker, at a westbound off-ramp near the 114-mile marker and at a Virginia Department of Transportation outpost.
I-64 was shut down between 12:10 a.m. and 6 a.m. Thursday from mile marker 96 in Augusta County to mile marker 118 in Albemarle County.
FOX News' Catherine Donaldson-Evans and The Associated Press contributed to this report