ROANOKE TIMES

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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 13, 1991                   TAG: 9103130526
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: AMELIA                                LENGTH: Medium


POLICE SAY TEEN TOOK HOSTAGES TO GET PUBLICITY

A 16-year-old gunman who took eight hostages at a Super Saver variety store in a bid for publicity was charged with eight counts of abduction and one count of armed robbery.

"He seemed like a boy who just wanted to get some attention," Amelia County Sheriff James Weaver said late Tuesday night. Weaver declined to identify the youth because of his age.

One of the hostages, Vicky Sharff, said the boy told her he wanted all the publicity he could get.

"He wanted to know how many channels were out there, how many people were covering it," Sharff said.

She said the boy told her his brother died of a brain tumor at age 8. The boy also told her he wanted revenge against doctors and against his parents, whom he alleged ignored and abused him.

"He said he wanted to go to jail," she said.

" `Nobody cares. I want them [my parents] to hurt,' " Sharff quoted the youth as saying. It was not clear when the youth's brother died.

Sharff said she was shopping for clothes with her two children when she heard a loud pop. Approaching the counter at the front of the store, she saw the young man with a long-barreled pistol.

"He said, `This is a holdup. This is no joke,' " Sharff said.

The gunman then herded the eight people in the store into a back storeroom. Another customer, Angela Morris, walked into the store to find it empty. A clerk came out of the back, warned her of the situation and asked her to leave. Morris left and called the police at 2:50 p.m.

Police established contact with the boy on the phone, but he hung up, Weaver said. They had no contact with him for the next three hours.

During that time, state troopers from Richmond and Hampton Roads as well as officers from Chesterfield County arrived to augment Weaver's eight-man department.

Inside the store, Sharff convinced the teen to let her two children go.

Police finally got hostage Sonya Taylor, store assistant manager, on the telephone, and negotiated through her.

Sharff was released after pizza and soft drinks were delivered to the store. As the evening progressed, the gunman continued to free his hostages and surrendered at 8:50 p.m.

Police identified the hostages as Sharff and her children; Taylor; Archer Royal Jr.; Archer Royal Sr.; Eulah Mavin; and Juanita Ross.

Weaver said the youth was from nearby Cumberland County.



 by CNB