Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412100056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
He was living with his grandmother Tuesday morning when Deputy Cliff Dicker came to his door with detention petitions for alleged auto theft and petty larceny. Shortly afterward, Dicker, 57, was killed with shots from a rifle and his own sidearm.
Shawn, as the boy is known, had lived with his grandmother for less than a year. His mother committed suicide when he was about 3 years old, and his father, of whom he saw little, died earlier this year in an auto accident, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
An uncle he was fond of was fatally shot by a girlfriend about a year ago. His grandfather, to whom he was close, died about three years ago.
Neighbors along Church and Marshall streets where he and his grandmother lived have said he was quiet and polite. Teresa Davidson, an aunt with whom he had also lived, said he was bitter about his family losses.
Davidson has told reporters that she gave Shawn $25 to buy back a gun his grandfather had given him - the .22-caliber rifle with which Dicker was shot.
Wheeler had several firearms at one point, but his grandmother got rid of them because he was talking about shooting the woman who shot his uncle, Davidson said.
Wheeler was enrolled in an off-campus school program for youngsters who had caused disturbances in classrooms. Acquaintances say he had a temper.
Dicker knew him. The deputy had transported him to the Juvenile Detention Center at Christiansburg before without any trouble. Sheriff Wayne Pike said there were times when authorities had to remove him from sporting events for causing a disturbance.
The Sheriff's Office had served petitions on him 12 times before Tuesday. ``We'd done this many times before,'' Pike said. ``There was no confrontation.''
Wheeler had been squirrel hunting Tuesday. Pike said Wheeler told investigators he asked Dicker to let him change clothes before going with him. Instead, Wheeler got the rifle that his grandfather had given him.
Pike said Wheeler told investigators he shot Dicker once with the rifle, then again with the deputy's 9mm pistol. An autopsy showed the second shot was fatal.
Pike expressed shock and disgust at the aunt's casual reference to helping the boy get back the gun and her failure to show any regret. ``That mentality - I mean, what are you going to do?'' he said. ``I guess it's just part of the whole tragedy.''
Commonwealth's Attorney Tommy Baird has said he will seek to have the youth tried as an adult. Wheeler also faces a charge of using firearms in the commission of a felony.
Pike said a man who had been arrested several times by deputies came into the Sheriff's Office with tears in his eyes and a made a contribution to a memorial fund for Dicker.
The family has suggested that memorial contributions be made to Jubilee Baptist Church, P.O. Box 438, Max Meadows 24360.
Dicker's funeral will be at 2 p.m. today at the Bob White Boulevard Church of God in Pulaski, with burial in Highland Memory Gardens at Dublin with military honors.
Dicker, who served 14 years with the Sheriff's Office, was a 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran.
by CNB