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

DATE: SATURDAY, March 9, 1991                   TAG: 9103090416
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ROANOKE MAN GUILTY IN SHOOTING

A 24-year-old Roanoke man was convicted Friday in Salem Circuit Court of discharging a firearm in public and carrying a concealed weapon during a party that turned into a riot last October at the Quality Inn on Virginia 419.

Robert William Reed Jr. had been charged with maliciously shooting at an occupied vehicle, but a jury convicted him of the lesser charges and sentenced him to 90 days in jail. He also was fined $5,000.

Salem Commonwealth's Attorney Fred King argued that a police officer watched Reed pull an automatic pistol from a shoulder holster and fire several times into a car driven by a juvenile.

Defense attorney Ray Byrd argued that Reed was firing the gun only to protect his brother, who had gotten into an argument with another man during the Oct. 5 party.

Byrd argued that the evidence showed a man had pointed a shotgun at Reed's brother and then at Reed before Reed fired his gun.

by CNB