THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 1, 1996 TAG: 9602010295
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
A police officer dodged bullets fired by an armed robber Wednesday and then fatally shot the gunman in underbrush bordering a Hilltop parking lot, authorities said.
The shootout erupted just before 11 a.m. on the fringe of Leggett Outlet Center's parking lot near Laskin and First Colonial roads.
A police officer summoned by a hold-up alarm from a nearby business spotted a man fitting the description of the robber. When confronted, the man ran and then fired at the officer, police spokesman Mike Carey said. The officer returned fire.
The suspect was hit by several 9 mm bullets and died two hours later at Virginia Beach General Hospital. The officer, 32-year-old Wayne C. Simms, wasn't hurt.
A construction worker on a nearby project said he heard a barrage of gunfire.
``If even half the shots they fired hit (the robber), then they got him good,'' said Mike Gilbert, 34, who was working on an unfinished DMV office nearby.
Police identified the dead man as 42-year-old Edward Carolina, with a listed address in the 900 block of La Grange Bend.
Carey and witnesses said this is how the shootout developed:
A few minutes after 10:30 a.m., Carolina walked into Arcana Fine Linens in La Promenade shopping center. He demanded money from a store employee, Kirby Johnson, 48, and she gave him $175. The robber ordered her into the rear of the store, where she gave him another $75 from her purse.
He told her to undress but she prayed and then persuaded him to leave. ``I said, `God bless you for letting me go,' '' Johnson said.
Johnson ran next door to Facet's Jewelers, where an employee triggered an alarm.
Carey said the robbery victim gave a detailed description of the gunman, and Simms, a seven-year veteran who was in the Hilltop area, spotted him in a parking lot across the street moments later.
Carey said the suspect ran from the officer, who chased him to a patch of underbrush at the parking lot's east end. There was an exchange of gunfire and the suspect was hit several times.
Lou Thurston, another police spokesman, said Johnson's thorough description helped police find the suspect quickly.
``We can pat her on the back for being very attentive'' under difficult circumstances, Thurston said.
Simms has been temporarily taken off street duty while the shooting is investigated, which is standard.
This was the city's second fatal police shooting in a year. Police said Wednesday that shootings involving officers seem to be escalating.
On Jan. 9, Chesapeake police serving a drug search warrant were met with gunfire. Police shot back, wounding a 17-year-old girl. The officers were unhurt.
On Jan. 3, a Norfolk police officer was shot by a man he was chasing. The officer returned fire, killing 19-year-old Juan Moore. The officer, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, survived.
On Dec. 7, Virginia Beach police shot and seriously wounded Robert N. Bellis after Bellis threatened to shoot them. Bellis had been fighting with his estranged wife and shot at her home.
On Dec. 4, a Norfolk police officer shot and killed a stolen car suspect who battered the officer with a piece of lumber.
On Aug. 23, a Virginia Beach officer shot at a man during a two-hour standoff after the man pointed what looked like a handgun at police. The man wasn't hurt.
On May 26, Norfolk police shot two robbery suspects in a confrontation. The alleged thieves were wounded.
On March 17, Virginia Beach police killed an armed man after he confronted an officer. The man was hiding from police after shooting his estranged wife. ILLUSTRATION: D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/The Virginian-Pilot
A Virginia Beach police forensics expert checks for fingerprints at
Arcana Fine Linens in La Promenade shopping center on Laskin Road. A
store employee was robbed earlier.
VP Graphic
Area Shown: Site of robbery, Site of shooting
KEYWORDS: ROBBERY SHOOTING FATALITY VIRGINIA BEACH < by CNB