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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 20, 1991                   TAG: 9103200513
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TEEN SHOT IN LEG IN INCIDENT AT HOUSING PROJECT

Roanoke police said today that Gordon Cornell Hancock was visiting the project in the 1700 block of West Salem Avenue Southwest about 9:50 p.m. when he and a woman were approached by a group of about five men.

The men began to curse him, Hancock told police, and when he complained about their language he heard a gunshot. Hancock then realized that he had been shot in the right leg, police said.

The group fled when police arrived at the scene. There have been no arrests, but an investigation is continuing.

Roanoke Valley police agencies reported these other incidents Tuesday night:

A man wielding a small-caliber gun robbed a Northwest Roanoke convenience store about 8:45 p.m. after forcing the clerk to lie on the floor.

The clerk was behind the counter when the bandit entered the Pic Quik at 4509 Salem Turnpike N.W., police said. The man asked the clerk for two packs of cigarettes. When the clerk looked down, the man pointed a gun. He then ordered the clerk to lie on the floor while he took a small amount of money from the register.

Police said officers searched the area but were unable to find the robber. No one was injured.

The store was robbed at least four times last year.

In January 1990, a clerk shot at a fleeing robber just one week before the store was robbed again. In July, five men were charged with offenses ranging from impeding police to armed robbery after a shoplifting incident at the store. And in October, a bandit robbed cash from the register after ordering a clerk to get on the floor.

A pit bull killed a neighbor's dog in Northwest Roanoke. Two pit bulls burrowed beneath a fence at 4236 Appleton Ave. where the other dog was standing shortly after 7 p.m., city police said. While one of the pit bulls appeared to be playing with the other dog, the other attacked and killed it. Police said no charges had been placed.

Burglars swiped $2,000 worth of items, including 22 cases of fruit juice, from Valley Rich Dairy at 5285 Hollins Road in Roanoke County. A spokesman for the county Police Department said a padlock appeared to be broken off a door. Also missing were an oven, a refrigerator, a microwave and a wet-dry vaccuum.

A train hit a car in Salem. Police said it appeared that Kevin Fletcher drove around a crossing gate shortly before the front of his car was clipped Tuesday night. Fletcher told police he fell asleep. The impact of the crash pitched the car's hood about 50 feet down the tracks at Duguids Lane. Fletcher, 19, of Elliston, was uninjured. Police said the train crew was unaware the accident had happened.