THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 29, 1994 TAG: 9410290219
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
The crime problem came to Crime Line on Friday morning a man fired six shots near three police officers and a TV cameraman and then sped away in a car. No one was wounded.
The police officers and the WVEC/Channel 13 cameraman, who was filming the Crime Line episode, hit the ground, said Officer Tony Torres. He serves as spokesman for the Chesapeake Police Department.
``As soon as the shots were fired, I dove for cover,'' Torres said.
The incident occurred about 9:30 a.m. at the intersection of Berkley Avenue and Vernon Drive. The Chesapeake police officers - Torres, Michael Brown and M.C. Blackwell - were re-enacting a Sept. 16 homicide that occurred nearby. They were not in uniform.
Torres said that after the gunfire stopped, he ran into the street with his gun drawn. He saw a man get into a light-blue Nissan Pulsar and drive away. Other witnesses also said they saw the man, and another suspicious car - a light blue Chevrolet Caprice with three men inside. That car also drove from the shooting scene.
Torres said that he ran after the Pulsar as it drove down Berkley Avenue. He chased the car until it turned right onto Campostella Road. He said he and other officers searched the area in patrol cars. Investigators continued to look for both cars, Torres said.
Channel 13 photographer Duncan Wynne said his back was toward the street when the shooting occurred. Wynne said he saw gun smoke about 50 yards away, near a group of people on a street corner.
``After I heard the shots and saw gun smoke, I hightailed it around the car,'' Wynne said.
Wynne said he thinks the gunshots were not meant for him or the police officers. He said the gunman was probably shooting at someone on a nearby street corner where a crowd had gathered.
``I don't think I was personally shot at,'' Wynne said. ``We were just near a drive-by shooting about 50 yards in front of us.''
Wynne said Channel 13 films a Crime Line episode every day, moving around Hampton Roads so that each of the seven cities is featured weekly. The Chesapeake episode filmed Friday will air Sunday.
Torres said the incident highlights the seriousness of the crime problem in Hampton Roads.
``It is terrible, to tell you the truth,'' Torres said.
Torres said the gunman or gunmen might be connected to the homicide that police were re-enacting.
``Or they could be just plain criminals who don't care who their victims are,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color staff map
Shots fired
by CNB