ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 12, 1996 TAG: 9612120069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JON CAWLEY STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on December 13, 1996.
The location of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle shop in Roanoke was
reported incorrectly in Thursday's paper. The shop has moved to Peters
Creek Road.
A young man was shot to death Wednesday evening in Northwest Roanoke near Lansdowne Park public housing development.
It was the city's 11th homicide this year.
Police responded about 7 p.m. to a report of shots fired in front of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle shop in the 2400 block of Centre Avenue, between 24th and 25th streets, and found Antwan Grey, age unavailable, lying in the street already dead, Sgt. Stan Smith said. Police at the scene found several shell casings in the area but were unsure of the number of times Grey had been shot.
Grey's mother, Priscilla Hylton, arrived on the scene about 7:30.
"The police called, and all they said was my son had been shot in Lansdowne," a visibly distraught Hylton said. When she arrived, she was unaware it was her son who lay covered by a sheet about 20 feet away.
A large crowd began to assemble shortly after the shooting. Several people cried and hugged each other, while others shouted vows of retribution. One man knelt and held Grey's body close to his, until friends helped him walk away.
The crowd's anger turned toward the presence of the local news media. Many people in the crowd repeatedly shouted threats and that members of the news media should leave.
Police on the scene were also targets of much of the crowd's anger because Grey's body was left lying in the street for almost an hour after the shooting.
"There are a lot of technical aspects of an investigation," Smith said. "We take great pains to take video and photos. There wasn't a lot of evidence around the body of the victim, so a judgment call was made to chalk the body and get it away as soon as possible. The body would normally be left a lot longer."
"People are frustrated and angry and go nuts. They just seize to something to vent their anger because the shooter wasn't there," Smith said. "It could have been a volatile scene."
About 7:20 p.m., what sounded like six gunshots were heard in the distance coming from the direction of Shenandoah Avenue. A few minutes later, several police officers, whose patrol cars had been blocking roads with access to the scene, sped north on Centre.
"Whether they were random shots or were tied in with [Grey's shooting], I don't know," Smith said.
The fatal shots were fired by at least one person, who probably was standing uphill on a sloping lawn in Lansdowne across Centre from the Harley-Davidson shop. There was no indication that a specific apartment in Lansdowne was involved, Smith said.
Police would not comment Wednesday night on the type of gun used or where Grey was shot. "[Grey] was lying on his back when I saw him. I don't know if he had been turned over ... or that's the way he landed," Smith said.
No suspects were in custody Wednesday night.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. Roanoke City Police officersby CNBinvestigate the scene of a fatal shooting on Centre Avenue Northwest
in Roanoke Wednesday night. color. KEYWORDS: ROMUR