Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 11, 1990 TAG: 9004110651
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Ralph Anthony Chapman, 33, was listed in guarded condition this morning at Community Hospital.
Chapman, police said, apparently was shot by his brother, James Carlton Chapman, who lives in the same house in the 1700 block of Mercer Avenue.
James Chapman was being assaulted by his brother at the time of the shooting, police said. No charges have been filed, although an investigation is continuing.
Police found the victim lying in the front yard of a home several blocks from where the shooting took place, police said. They said he had been shot in the abdomen with a .22 caliber gun.
James Chapman had obtained a warrant charging Ralph Chapman with brandishing a firearm over another incident in March, but that charge has yet to be tried, police said.
Ralph Chapman recently served a short jail sentence for possession of cocaine. His trial was delayed for a psychiatric examination after he told authorities that he practiced voodoo and had been "cursed" by a competing drug dealer.
The Chapmans' mother told police that the gun belonged to her and that she had given it to James Chapman for his protection, police said.
James Chapman told police he had feared for his safety, said Sgt. W.K. West of the Roanoke Police Department.
by CNB