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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 13, 1991                   TAG: 9103130330
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: AMELIA                                LENGTH: Short

ARMED TEEN HOLDS 8 CAPTIVE IN AMELIA STORE

A 16-year-old, gunman reportedly distraught over the death of his brother, took eight people hostage inside a Dollar Saver variety store but released all unharmed after a 7-hour standoff with police Tuesday.

The unidentified youth freed his final two hostages and was arrested about 8:50 p.m., police said.

Clad in a T-shirt, black pants and a denim jacket, the youth kept his head bowed as he was led into the Amelia County sheriff's office.

A woman freed earlier in the evening said the youth told her he held up a store clerk and barricaded himself in the store because he was upset by the death of his brother several years before.

"I was shopping for clothes with the kids when I heard this loud pop," said Vicky Sharff, 27, of Amelia. "When I went to the counter I saw this 16-year-old; he had a gun. He said `This is a holdup; this is no joke.' "

Sharff said the youth appeared rational.

She said the gunman told her he was doing this, "not for the money but for the publicity." The youth sought revenge against doctors who treated his brother's brain tumor and against his parents.

by CNB