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

DATE: SATURDAY, May 5, 1990                   TAG: 9005050124
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KEVIN KITTREDGE SHENANDOAH BUREAU
DATELINE: COVINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

ARMED MAN SLAIN DURING CONFRONTATION

William Raymond Crawford, 32, of Covington, was shot in the head about 9:40 p.m. Thursday, said Commonwealth's Attorney Chris Alderson. No one has been arrested.

"We know who fired the shot, but no charges have been filed. It looks like it may have been a justifiable homicide," Alderson said Friday afternoon.

Investigators are awaiting an autopsy report on Crawford before releasing a cause of death, said Covington Police Chief Jeffrey Brown. He said a medical examiner declared Crawford dead at the scene.

Crawford died while breaking into the home of Christy Crawford, from whom he had been estranged since last summer, Alderson said.

He said Crawford had just told his wife he was going to come over and kill her. "He broke out the glass on the front door and was coming in through the door when he was shot," Alderson said. "He had a loaded shotgun in his hand."

In addition to the 12-gauge double-barreled shotgun he carried, Crawford had two pistols - one in his pocket and one in a holster - and a rifle in the car, authorities said. He also had a large quantity of ammunition, according to Alderson.

Police said they were not certain why Crawford brought so much firepower, or what he might have done. "I don't think anybody will ever really know," said Brown.

Crawford, who worked for Westvaco Corp., was shot by 36-year-old Richard Harvey Pridgen of Raleigh, N.C., Alderson said. He said Pridgen was a friend of Crawford's wife.

Pridgen fired two warning shots from his .38-caliber pistol before shooting Crawford in the head, Alderson said.

The woman's two children were sleeping upstairs when the incident occurred.

Crawford's wife already had called police before the shooting started, Alderson said. "She was on the phone to the police dispatcher as he [Crawford] was on the porch."

Three officers - a field sergeant and two patrolmen - responded to the call, and investigators and Brown himself soon were called out as well, Brown said.

But by the time the officers got there the violence was over, said the chief. "There was no disturbance. Everything had occurred by the time we arrived."

The Crawfords were to meet in domestic relations court Friday morning for a divorce hearing, Alderson said. He said the incident is still under investigation.