Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 20, 1990                   TAG: 9003202353
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TWO CARS HIT BY BULLETS FIRED ON INTERSTATE

No one was injured. Both cars were struck in the right passenger door by what appeared to be bullets from a small-caliber handgun, police said.

One car was struck at 2 a.m.; the second car was hit 10 minutes later.

Linda Obrien, 34, of Southwest Roanoke, told police that she was driving south with her husband and a friend when she heard shots fired and heard something strike the car.

James C. Jefferson, 54, of Garden City also told police that he heard shots fired. Jefferson's car was also struck.

Jefferson, a former Roanoke firefighter, said he knew at once what had happened. "I knew it was a bullet; you could hear it `thump' when it hit the metal," he said.

Jefferson drove farther down the road - "I wasn't about to stop there," he said - before stopping to inspect his car. He then called police.

Both shots apparently came from the side of the interstate.

Police have not been able to determine whether the shots were stray gunfire or whether they were fired by someone who intended to hit the cars.