ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 7, 1997 TAG: 9703070056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
One policeman was in critical condition. Another, saved by his armored vest, was treated and released.
A teen-ager suspected of shooting two police officers who were chasing him for violating a curfew was arrested Thursday night after a 5 1/2-hour standoff.
Officers Christopher Wade and Ken Roane were chasing a youth they believed was violating a city-imposed curfew in a high-crime neighborhood shortly after midnight when suddenly the youth pulled a gun.
The young man fired two or three times, and both officers were hit but survived. The suspect initially got away. One of the officers lay in a hospital Thursday.
Police would not say what caused them to suspect that Alex O'Neill Carter, 18, shot the officers. But SWAT team officers surrounded a house with Carter inside about 2:30 p.m. and tried to make contact.
After several hours without a response, officers fired several tear gas canisters into the house. A short time later, Carter's mother, Vanetta Carter, came to the scene and spoke to her son using a bullhorn.
Carter surrendered peacefully shortly after 8 p.m. No shots were fired during the standoff.
Deputy Police Chief Fred Russell said a grand jury would be asked to indict Carter on two counts of attempted capital murder of a police officer.
``This is another win in our column and we're happy about it,'' Russell said.
Carter's mother said he is innocent.
``He had no part in this. They just want somebody to pin it on,'' she said.
Russell said Carter may have run from the officers because he was a suspect in a Wednesday shooting in which no one was injured.
Wade and Roane were shot in a part of Richmond that the city has designated as a ``prostitution and drug-free zone.'' The designation is more of a goal than reality, because the zones are rife with crime. No one convicted of prostitution or drug dealing is allowed within the zone, and the only children 16 or younger who are allowed inside are those who live there.
The officers were driving by about 12:20 a.m. Thursday when they saw two men, one of whom appeared to be under 16. The suspect began running, and Wade and Roane left their cruiser and chased the him into an alley. The suspect fired, hitting Wade in the upper chest. Roane was also hit, but the bullet did not penetrate his bulletproof vest.
Wade was in critical but stable condition Thursday afternoon at Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, said police spokesman William Chorney. Roane suffered bruising and was treated at MCV and released.
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