ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, October 22, 1996              TAG: 9610220093
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-3  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI

REPORT: MAN DIED FROM 4 GUNSHOTS

Four gunshots killed Rodney Lee Wilhelm, the Southeast Roanoke man shot by a patrol officer after a confrontation early Sunday, an autopsy shows.

Wilhelm, 41, was hit in the chest and back, said Dr. David Oxley, deputy chief medical examiner for Western Virginia.

Police said they responded to Jerome Street Southeast, near Dundee Avenue, about 3 a.m. Sunday and found Wilhelm holding two guns. Wilhelm, 41, fired one of the guns, dropped it and pointed the other at Officer A.C. Lampe. Police said Lampe shot and killed Wilhelm about 100 feet from his house on Padbury Street.

An internal investigation is under way, Police Chief M. David Hooper said Monday. He said Sunday that preliminary findings indicated the shooting was "justifiable."

In keeping with department policy, Lampe is on administrative leave until the investigation is complete.

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