Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 19, 1992 TAG: 9201190109
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: E3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From staff reports
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Short
HUSBAND FACES CHARGES IN FATAL PULASKI SHOOTING
A man covered in blood who burst into a fast-food restaurant here Friday night has been charged in the shooting death of his wife.Police said John and Shanna Burnette had been parked outside Kentucky Fried Chicken shortly after 8 p.m. when a gun went off inside the car. A bullet fired from a .357-Magnum pistol passed through the man's shoulder and struck the woman in the face, police said.
Shanna Burnette, 29, of Pulaski, died from the wound. John Burnette, 30, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
There were reports that the couple were struggling over the gun when the shot was fired, but Police Chief E.J. Williams said there were no witnesses and investigators were still looking into the circumstances.
The manager of the restaurant said John Burnette burst into the restaurant and yelled for help.
"He came inside and he was real bloody," manager Ron Breedlove said. "He just came through and was hollering `call 911!' "
Breedlove said he and another man went outside, where they found Shanna Burnette lying on the ground next to a car. He said the woman was not breathing or moving.
The Burnettes had neither been in the restaurant nor passed by its drive-through window, Breedlove said.
John Burnette was treated for a gunshot wound to the upper left chest at Pulaski Community Hospital. He remained confined in the Pulaski County jail Saturday in lieu of $50,000 bond, according to a jailer.
Burnette is scheduled for arraignment on the manslaughter charge on Jan. 30 in Pulaski County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
Keywords:
FATALITY