THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 8, 1995 TAG: 9508080243
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
When 58-year-old James L. Pope heard his doorbell early Monday morning he did what anyone else would do: he went to the door to see who was there.
Police don't know if he ever found out. What they do know is that Pope was gunned down when the visitor shot through the door of his home at 146 Allard Road before he could open it.
Pope was able to get to his den before collapsing. Police received a call at 1:13 a.m. and found him dead on the floor with a chest wound.
Pope's slaying was one of three fatal shootings in Portsmouth between 11 p.m. Sunday and 3:30 a.m. Monday. With more than four months left in 1995, the city has already matched last year's total of 22 homicides.
The first this weekend occurred in the 1100 block of Virginia Ave. when 23-year-old Jermaine L. Johnson was shot at home about 11:27 p.m. Sunday.
Police found Johnson on his stomach in the breezeway of the house. He had been shot in the back of his neck and in his left hip.
Police said witnesses reported hearing voices and the sound of three gunshots coming from Johnson's apartment.
Johnson was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where he died at 2:10 a.m. Monday.
At 3:30 a.m. Monday, police responded to the 1400 block of County St., where they found Julian W. Pugh lying by the curb with a gunshot wound.
Pugh, 36, was taken to Sentara Norfolk Hospital. He died shortly after 7 a.m.
Police were called to County Street by a woman who also was struck by gunfire. The woman, not identified by investigators, said she was walking along Barbour Drive toward County Street when she heard a man arguing with Pugh.
The woman said she began running back toward her apartment when she heard three or four gunshots and was hit in the left leg by a bullet. She was treated at Portsmouth General Hospital and released.
Police are looking for a black male in his mid-20s. He was seen wearing a black T-shirt and blue jeans. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JOHN C. BELL
The body of a shooting victim in Portsmouth is removed from his
Allard Road home Monday
. James L. Pope had gone to answer the door of his home and was shot
early Monday morning. Police are looking for two suspects who were
seen leaving the area. The fatal shooting was one of three in
Portsmouth between 11 p.m. Sunday and 3:30 a.m. Monday.
KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING PORTSMOUTH<
by CNB