Two Police Officers Shot in Lewisburg, W.Va.

 

LEWISBURG, W.Va. (AP) - An emergency dispatch official in West Virginia says two Lewisburg police officers were shot after they stopped a suspected stolen vehicle and the driver opened fire.

Donna Hinkle of the Greenbrier County 911 center said both officers and the driver were hospitalized Thursday with injuries that were not life threatening. Hinkle said the New Year's Day shooting occurred about 4 p.m. on a highway outside Lewisburg. Hinkle said the driver of a second vehicle also fired at the officers and then pulled away. The vehicle then left the highway, and the alleged shooter was captured in woods. Hinkle said the first vehicle had a stolen tag.

 

The Charleston Gazette | 2 police officers shot near Lewisburg

 

Two Lewisburg police officers were shot at about 4:10 p.m. Thursday after pulling over a vehicle near the Lewisburg exit of Interstate 64, according to a Greenbrier County 911 dispatcher.

 

Two male suspects were both in custody by 6 p.m. Thursday. The two officers, both men, were taken to the emergency room at the Greenbrier Valley Medical Center and were expected to be OK, according to the dispatcher. One officer’s ribs were injured when his bullet-proof vest was shot. The other officer was “just grazed,” the dispatcher said.

 

A male suspect who was shot by an officer also was taken to the emergency room. Police found the other suspect, described as of Middle Eastern descent, in the woods about a mile from the scene shortly before 6 p.m. He had taken off in a red 2015 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup with the North Carolina license plate number MP3612. Police found the vehicle first, about a mile from the scene in a wooded area. According to a dispatcher, the officers pulled the vehicle over because the tags had been reported stolen.

 

The names of the suspects and officers were not made available Thursday evening.

 

Traffic stop for stolen tags and this guy comes out shooting and THEN a guy in a second vehicle starts firing on the officers also. Seems that there is much more about this story we don't know yet. Drug Runners, Gang Members, Possible Terrorist or just two stupid kids? I guess we'll know soon.

 

Thank God that both Officers survived with minimal injuries and that both suspects are in custody.

 

BTW Lewisburg has a population of around 4500 and has only 12 Sworn Police Officers

I am sure I am guilty of generalizing but WV is just different than the rest of the country.

UPDATE, 11:02 p.m., Jan. 1: Two dead bodies were discovered in the back of a pickup truck driven by a man who shot at two Lewisburg, WV police officers, according to West Virginia State Police Lt. Michael Baylous, and all lanes of Interstate 64 have reopened to traffic after a police investigation.

 

At about 4 p.m. Jan. 1, two Lewisburg Police Department officers conducted a traffic stop on a white SUV with a North Carolina license plate registered as stolen, according to the West Virginia State Police. The stop was along I-64 westbound, near the Lewisburg exit, and when the white SUV stopped, a red pickup truck that had been following the SUV stopped as well.

 

The driver of the red pickup truck shot at both Lewisburg officers with a handgun, according to WVSP, but one officer returned fire, hitting the driver of the red pickup in the leg. The driver of the SUV fled over a nearby hillside but was taken into custody by the Greenbrier County Sheriff's Department. The other suspect hid behind an interstate guardrail, but eventually walked back to the interstate and turned himself in.

 

The two suspects claim to be father and son, but they have not yet been identified by law enforcement.

 

The red pickup truck had two recently deceased bodies in the bed of the truck, under a mattress. The WVSP has indicated the bodies are a couple reported missing from Granville County, North Carolina earlier Jan. 1.

 

Granville County, North Carolina Sheriff Brindel B. Wilkins Jr. said Jerome Faulkner, 73, and his wife, Dora, 62, were at their home near Oak Hill, N.C. Wilkins said his preliminary indications are that the couple's house was burned and their SUV was stolen by the two men who were taken into custody in West Virginia. Wilkins said the suspects were from Texas and the entire episode appears to be random in nature.

 

Both Lewisburg Police officers were transported to Greenbrier Medical Center for treatment to their wounds. They are reported to be in "good but stable" condition. Information related to their identity and status will be released by the Lewisburg Police Department at their discretion. The two suspects will be arrested for malicious assault and attempted murder of a police officer in Greenbrier County.

 

Investigators from North Carolina will arrive in West Virginia Friday, Jan. 2. Federal authorities also are being contacted. The law enforcement agencies will host a news conference at 11 a.m. Jan. 2 to provide further updates.

 

Man this is crazy...sounds more like a story from Criminal Minds or Law and Order!

Picture of the two suspects

 

 

Texas father and son kill N.C. couple, wound officers in crime spree

I really wonder what the deal is with these two...this is really crazy. Makes you wonder if there are more missing/deaths these two are responsible for.

It looks like the son must be in an active fight club ring as well. His face is pretty beat up in that photo.

I am sure I am guilty of generalizing but WV is just different than the rest of the country.

Not a whole lot different than some parts of Kentucky. :lol2: