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Fourth possible shooting probed Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1061460308920&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968705899037http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1061460308920&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968705899037
Aug. 21, 2003. 10:45 AM
Fourth possible West Virginia sniper shooting probed
Fear grips state after three people shot dead outside convenience stores
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Police searching for a sniper suspect in West Virginia were called to investigate another report of gunfire outside a convenience store, but said there was no evidence to confirm a shooting took place.
Charleston Police Chief Jerry Pauley said today that police were investigating the report late Wednesday from Dunbar, W.Va., less than 10 kilometres from Charleston. But he said police had found no physical evidence of a shooting.
"We're still interviewing witnesses," Pauley said. "Some of them said they heard what they thought was a shot. One 16-year-old girl told them that she thought she heard a bullet whiz past her head. And there are others that didn't hear anything."
Police were trying to determine if a shot was fired or if witnesses heard a car backfire, Pauley said.
"People are a little bit anxious anyway," Pauley added. "You might mistake it for a shot."
A short time after the incident, a deputy pursued a pickup truck he saw speeding down U.S. Route 60, but lost it, a dispatcher said. Police searched the area for several hours but did not find the truck or its driver.
Authorities said they weren't sure if the speeding truck was related to Wednesday's incident or the earlier shootings.
Investigators said earlier Wednesday that two of last week's three slayings outside convenience stores were apparently drug-related, not the acts of a sniper choosing victims at random.
Based on eyewitness accounts, investigators are looking for a dark-coloured, two-tone Ford F-150 extended cab pickup.
Jeanie Patton, 31, and Okey Meadows Jr., 26, both of Campbells Creek, W.Va., were killed within 90 minutes of each other at rural convenience stores about 15 kilometres apart on U.S. 60. Authorities say both shots probably came from a .22-calibre rifle — the most popular style of small-calibre rifle in the state.
No vehicle descriptions have been offered in the Aug. 10 shooting of 44-year-old Gary Carrier Jr., who was killed while making a telephone call outside a Charleston convenience store. Police have yet to release ballistic information on that shooting.
However, police have said that Carrier, Patton and Meadows were shot in the head or neck from a distance of 50 to 75 metres.
Given West Virginia's hunting heritage, looking for a small-calibre rifle "can be like looking for needle in a haystack," said Chief Deputy Phil Morris of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.
"It would have been more beneficial to us if it had been an uncommon weapon and an uncommon vehicle," he said.
Ford F-150s are also popular in West Virginia and rank as the state's second most stolen vehicle, the National Insurance Crime Bureau says. Now, every blue, black or maroon Ford with gold trim is suspect.
In Wednesday reported shooting, a 16-year-old girl in Dunbar, W.Va., told authorities she believed she was shot at from a maroon pickup outside a convenience store.
Curtis Sullivan, also 16, said he was parked near the store when he heard what he said was at least one shot and saw people in the parking lot scatter. Sullivan said he drove the girl and two of her companions to a nearby grocery store for safety.
"A couple came running in and the girl was hysterical," Robert Moore, a customer at the convenience store, told WCHS-TV.
"They said a truck came by, fired two shots, and then they took off running," Moore said.
Eyewitnesses of the earlier sniper-style shootings have also told police that they saw a large white man in the truck.
Investigators said Wednesday that they want to question a man eyewitnesses have placed near the truck in the Campbells Creek area days before Patton and Meadows were shot.
The man, described as being white, six-feet tall with trim build and a beard, is not considered a suspect, but someone "we want to talk to," said Lieut. Jess Bailes of the
Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.
While authorities have probed a reputed drug connection in the deaths, a friend of Meadows said he "was definitely not into drugs."
"They're trying to relate this to drugs, and I think that's a lot of bull," Brett Page said Wednesday. "It's making a lot of people mad. He was a really good guy who took care of his kid and took care of his body."
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