THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602250076
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 140 lines
A man suspected of killing a woman in a botched robbery Friday night and then slaying a man in a carjacking Saturday was himself killed by Virginia Beach police after a chase through a quiet neighborhood.
During the pursuit Saturday, the man ran through an empty townhouse that a real estate agent was showing to a client. Police then killed the man outside after he turned on them, pulled a handgun and opened fire.
No officers were injured, although a bullet passed through the pants leg of one.
Virginia Beach police spokesman Mike Carey said Norfolk investigators believe the dead man was involved in two fatal attacks: a carjacking that occurred about 2:15 p.m. Saturday outside the Kmart on Military Highway across from Military Circle; and a shooting in the parking lot of the nearby Janaf Shopping Center on Friday night.
``The manner in which the crimes were committed is the same, and the weapons used and the description of the suspect all appear to match,'' Carey said.
The gunman was carrying no identification, and police were trying Saturday night to identify him through fingerprints.
The woman killed Friday night was Ann J. Lim, 52, of Suffolk. Lim, a real estate agent with GSH and a mother of three, was shot several times at about 6:15 p.m. as she stood near her car in front of the Fashion Plaza store at Janaf, police said. The victim in Saturday's carjacking at the Kmart was Paul Anthony Bernard, 37, 1400 block of Tatemstown Rd., Chesapeake, police said.
Police credited Tim Sullivan, an off-duty Norfolk officer, with spotting the suspect and initiating the pursuit Saturday.
``Sullivan did a magnificent job,'' said Norfolk police Chief Melvin C. High. ``He always seems to be in the right place at the right time.''
Carey said Sullivan, of Norfolk's 1st Precinct, was in uniform and heading home from duty in his own car Saturday when, about 2:30 p.m., he heard on a portable police radio that a carjacking had just occurred.
As Sullivan headed south on Military Highway near Providence Road, he spotted a red, 1984 Ford Thunderbird matching the description of the stolen car. Using his portable radio, he contacted dispatchers and quizzed them on their description of the shooting suspect. Within seconds he was able to tell them he was looking at the suspect.
While Norfolk dispatchers alerted their counterparts in Virginia Beach, Sullivan continued to follow the car as it turned east on Providence Road. Beach police cars were sent to the area to join with Sullivan.
As the two cars headed down Providence Road, the suspect realized he was being followed. ``He's made me!'' Sullivan radioed back. The suspect pulled away.
Sullivan was able to keep an eye on the car as it maneuvered in heavy traffic, crossing over Indian River Road and then over Interstate 64. He continued to follow as it turned down Old Providence Road.
``The guy then pulled into a driveway of a house along Old Providence, making like he lived there,'' Carey said. Sullivan pulled up, stopped and got out of his car. He saw the man held a semiautomatic handgun.
Before either man could make a move, two Virginia Beach police cars sped up. The suspect jumped back in the stolen car and took off, going several more blocks east on Old Providence.
At Whitehurst Landing Road, he turned into the rear parking lot of Providence Presbyterian Church, at 5497 Providence Road,jumped the curb and drove onto the lawn, apparently hoping to make a U-turn. Instead, the right front tire of the car blew out and smoke started coming out of the engine compartment.
``I heard a loud noise, and I thought a car had hit another,'' said Colleen Lewis, 31, who was working in her yard nearby. She turned in time to see a man jump out of the car and dash across the street. ``I saw him jump the fence and the police arrived.''
Joshua Thiele, 21, of Kempsville, was outside with a friend when he saw the car ``tearing through'' the parking lot. ``We stopped because we didn't know what was going on,'' he told investigators.
Thiele said the man had trouble scaling the wooden fence, and basically ``fell over it'' after his clothing became entangled in a wooden slat.
On the other side of the fence, in the Jamestown subdivision, the suspect found himself at the rear of a line of townhomes in the 800 block of Jamestown Landing Road. He dashed through the back door of a vacant unit that a real estate agent had opened to show to a client. ``They were obviously startled,'' Carey said of the people inside. The man ran through the living room, gun in hand, and out the front door.
Two Virginia Beach police officers ran into the complex, which is sandwiched between Providence and Old Providence roads.
In the 5500 block of New Colony Drive, the officers caught up with the gunman at about 2:45 p.m., cornering him against a brick side wall of one home. He turned, pulled a handgun, and opened fire.
``I was sitting on the couch and we heard this loud `pop,' '' said Mark Clemons, 22. ``I stuck my head out the door and I saw the cops. They were screaming at him to put the gun down. But he had his gun in his hands, pointed toward them. That's when they began to fire.''
Although no civilians were nearby, police said, many people - especially children - were out enjoying the springlike weather. When the gunshots erupted, people ran from their homes, some to see what was happening, others fearful.
``This one woman came out yelling, `Where are my children? Where are my children?' '' Clemons said. By that time, however, the gunfire had stopped.
The gunman's body was thrown back against the bullet-scarred brick wall by the impact of gunshots. His gun fell a few feet from where he died.
Thiele, still on the other side of the fence where the stolen car had been abandoned, said he, too, heard the gunfire. ``It was like, `Bam! Bam!' and then, `Bam! Bam! Bam!' '' he said, adding that he thought there had been only five shots.
Albert Kagler, who lives in Los Angeles and was visiting friends in the neighborhood, said he was inside when he heard what sounded to him like nine shots.
``There were two volleys,'' he said. ``It started out as a couple shots and then a lot of shots. You could tell the second group was return fire.''
He stood on a curb, tending his dog, and watching as investigators put out yellow placards marking the location of each gun shell and the suspect's weapon. The dead man's body was covered with a yellow tarp.
``I thought things like this only happened out in L.A.,'' Kagler said. MEMO: Staff writer Mike Knepler contributed to this story.
ILLUSTRATION: Photos
HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot
Virginia Beach police look for bullets in the wall above the
suspect's body. One witness thought nine shots were fired; another
thought there were five.
Residents of New Colony Drive watch as Virginia Beach police search
for evidence.
Map
Graphic
Text by STEVE STONE, graphic by ROBERT D. VOROS/The Virginian-Pilot
THE CHASE\ [For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING CARJACKING ROBBERY
VIRGINIA BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT NORFOLK POLICE
DEPARTMENT by CNB