Thread: Two West Virginia Cops Shot During Vehicle Stop

Two West Virginia Cops Shot During Vehicle Stop

Two suspects are in custody after two police officers were shot during a traffic stop in West Virginia. Authorities in Lewisburg said both officers are expected to survive and that one was hit in the rib but was wearing a protective vest, and the second officer was grazed by a bullet.

The names of those taken into custody were not immediately released. The shooting happened after Lewisburg police stopped a vehicle with stolen plates on Interstate 64 and were fired upon, Donna Hinkle, director of administration at the Greenbrier County 911 Center, told NBC News.

Shots were fired at the officer from the suspected stolen vehicle as well as a red pickup truck that was traveling with that car, Hinkle said, and police returned fire and struck the driver of the first car, she said. The red pickup sped off and the suspect was found in some woods about a mile from where the shooting took place, Hinkle said.

One of the shot officers only graduated from the police academy two weeks ago, Hinkle said.

— Shamar Walters

First published January 1st 2015, 3:43 pm

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...e-stop-n278176

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Dead bodies found in truck of man who shot two police officers

by Erin Beck, Staff writer

A man with two dead bodies in the bed of his truck shot and injured two Lewisburg police officers who had pulled over the shooter’s son for a suspected stolen vehicle in Greenbrier County on New Year’s Day, according to West Virginia State Police.

The officers pulled over the shooter’s son, who was driving a white Chevrolet SUV with a North Carolina license plate, because the plate was listed as stolen. The officers pulled him over at about 4 p.m. near the Lewisburg exit of Interstate 64.
During the traffic stop, the driver of a red Chevrolet truck pulled over and shot at both officers.

One officer’s ribs were injured when his bullet-proof vest was shot, according to a Greenbrier County 911 dispatcher. The other officer was “just grazed,” the dispatcher said.

Police then shot the driver of the Chevrolet truck, wounding his leg, according to a news release from West Virginia State Police.

The two officers, both men, were taken to the emergency room at the Greenbrier Valley Medical Center. A hospital employee said the two officers were in good, stable condition Thursday night.

She said the suspect who was shot was treated and transferred to another hospital.

Both suspects fled the scene after the shooting, according to the press release.

The driver of the Chevrolet truck “went over the hillside and was eventually taken into custody by the Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Department”, the release says.

The driver of the Chevrolet SUV drove behind a guardrail on the interstate and hid for a short amount of time, then eventually walked up to the interstate and turned himself into law enforcement without incident.

When searching the Chevrolet truck, officers found the two dead bodies under a mattress. Police believe the victims were from North Carolina.

Officers contacted police in North Carolina to try to determine the victims’ identities.

Police said they would arrest the two suspects for malicious assault and attempted murder of a police officer.

The names of the suspects and officers were not made available Thursday evening. State Police Spokesman Lt. Michard Baylous cautioned that while the suspects claim to be father and son, their identities are not verified.

West Virginia State Police and the Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Office are investigating.

Staff Writer Mike Hricik contributed to this report.



- See more at: http://www.wvgazette.com/article/201....rrxmaxlI.dpuf

Multistate crime spree leaves 2 dead, 3 wounded

Posted: Friday, January 2, 2015 2:33 pm | Updated: 5:00 pm, Fri Jan 2, 2015.
Associated Press |

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A multistate crime spree left a North Carolina couple dead and their home torched before two suspects were caught in a New Year's Day shootout that wounded two police officers, authorities said Friday.

Investigators began piecing together the crime Thursday around 4 p.m. when two Lewisburg, West Virginia, officers pulled over an SUV on a highway outside the city, according to State Police. The SUV had a North Carolina license plate showing it had been stolen, according to police.

During the stop, a truck pulled over nearby and its driver shot at the officers with a handgun, wounding both, State Police Lt. Michael Baylous said. One officer returned fire, wounding the suspect in the leg.

Baylous said the SUV driver fled and hid but later turned himself in. The truck driver also fled and was eventually taken into custody.

Investigators then discovered two bodies under a mattress in the truck's bed.

Baylous identified the suspects as Eric Campbell, 21, and Edward Campbell, 54, of Texas. Police say Edward Campbell was the driver of the truck and the gunman who was wounded.

Police say the two identified themselves as father and son.

They'll be charged with malicious assault and attempted murder of a police officer, police said.

Lewisburg police Chief Tim Stover said Lt. Jeromy Dove, a 16-year veteran of the force, was grazed in the back of his neck. Patrolman Nicholas Sams, a rookie just out of training, had shrapnel in his forehead.

Stover said both wore protective vests, and he expected both to leave the hospital Friday.

In a phone call with The Associated Press, Sams, 20, said he was doing well and confirmed that he had been with the department just about a week. He declined to comment further.

Carrie Dove, wife of 36-year-old Jeromy, said her husband called her from the scene. "The only thing he said to me was, 'I've been shot. I'm fine. I'm going to the hospital in an ambulance.' That's the worst call a policeman's wife can ever dream of."

She said he had just gotten home from the hospital and was doing well (conversation was at about 2:20p).

Granville County Sheriff Brindell B. Wilkins Jr. told Raleigh TV station WRAL that the bodies in the truck were those of Jerome Faulkner, 73, and his wife, Dora Faulkner, 62.

The sheriff told the station that the two suspects burst into the Faulkners' home northwest of Oxford on Thursday morning, set the house on fire and took the couple and their SUV.

Wilkins said it wasn't immediately clear why the two were targeted or exactly when they were killed.

The Associated Press couldn't immediately reach Wilkins.
Last September, suspect Edward Campbell was arrested for aggravated assault, according to court records in Brazoria County, south of Houston. Court officials could provide no other details Friday. They said his case file had been sealed.

He also had been on probation or deferred adjudication for five years after pleading guilty in 2007 to a charge of possession of a controlled substance.

Campbell had been a nurse in several states.

Records show his Florida license expired in 1998. His Texas license was revoked in 2009 after charges related to more than 80 incidents of improper documentation, misuse or misappropriation of narcotics while working at several Houston-area hospitals in 2007.

Chrystal Daugherty, who was married to Campbell in 1984 and 1985, said he also worked as a nurse in California and brought home drugs from work. She hasn't talked with him in nearly 30 years.

"He needed to go to jail a long time ago." She said
In rural Granville County, North Carolina, Jerome Faulkner, 73, was a founding member of the Cornwall Volunteer Fire Department near Oxford in the 1980s and served as its chief.

He'd retired a few years ago.

"He helped train me when I joined. He was a mentor," said Steven Frazier, the department's current chief, who joined in 2000.

"He would still come by and help out when he could, but he was enjoying his retirement," he said.

With about 8,400 people, Oxford is a typical small town, with tree-line streets and roads to the country. The Faulkners lived on one of them in a house set back from the highway.

Faulkner served as a deacon at Mountain Creek Baptist Church in Oxford and regularly handed out programs as an usher, said the Rev. Johnny Edwards.

"They were very quiet. They kind of stayed to themselves at the house, but if you needed any help at all, they were there to help you," he said.

Neighbor and relative Judy Laws said she heard sirens blaring and saw trucks speeding down the road. The Laws live about 500 feet away, but a thicket of trees block their view. She said Dora Faulkner worked as a nurse. Laws said her husband has health problems, and the Faulkners were always willing to help. "All I needed to do was call and Dora would be here in a minute," she said.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/new...6537e44fa.html