THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 2, 1994 TAG: 9411020491
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN E. QUINONES MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: JARRATT LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
A routine car check took a dramatic turn Tuesday afternoon when a state trooper shot and critically wounded a man who police said was brandishing a gun.
The man, who has not been identified, was taken to Greensville Memorial Hospital, then flown by helicopter to Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., state police spokeswoman Tammy Van Dame said.
Three state troopers had set up a traffic checkpoint at the intersection of Route 610 North (Jarratt Road) and Route 139 West (Allen Road), near the heart of town.
About 12:30 p.m., the troopers stopped a late-model blue Buick Landau. Three men were in the car, Van Dame said, and troopers asked them to get out of the car after they detected alcohol on the driver's breath and spotted beer cans in the back seat.
``They didn't give any problem about getting out of the car,'' Van Dame said, ``and they offered no resistance when one of the troopers began patting them down.''
The driver was the first one patted down, and the trooper searching the men found a handgun, Van Dame said.
Then the man who had been sitting in the front passenger seat began to run.
``As he was running, he took out a semiautomatic weapon, turned around, and appeared to be leveling off the weapon in the direction of the troopers,'' Van Dame said. ``That's when one of the troopers shot him.''
The man was shot more than once in the upper body, Van Dame said. A Duke hospital spokesman said the man was in stable condition, upgraded from critical, Tuesday night.
The man's companions were taken into police custody.
Van Dame said the names, ages and addresses of the wounded man and his companions were being withheld because police are investigating the see whether they are wanted in connection with other crimes.
The town of Jarratt, which straddles the line between Sussex and Greensville counties, has a population of about 500. It has only one part-time police officer, according to city clerk Mary Pratt. ILLUSTRATION: Map
STAFF
KEYWORDS: ASSAULT DRUNKEN DRIVING SHOOTING
INJURY ARREST by CNB