Three wounded by gunfire at party with 200 people in northern Halifax


Three people were wounded by gunfire at a private party involving some 200 people in northern Halifax County early Sunday morning, according to law enforcement officials. One of the gunshot victims was a 14-year-old girl, confirmed Halifax County Sheriff Fred Clark.

The teen was shot in the hip area, while two adult males also were shot — one in the hand and one in the foot. All of the injuries were non-life-threatening.

Clark said rumors circulated among partygoers suggesting more people were shot, but the Sheriff’s Office has identified only three.

Police worked a multi-car crash on L.P. Bailey Highway in Halifax County on Sunday morning. The crash involved an unknown number of persons who had earlier attended a party in northern Halifax County in which three people, including a 14-year-old, were wounded by gunfire.

The party took place at a residence on Golden Leaf Road in the Republican Grove area of northern Halifax County. Clark said the 911 dispatch center received calls of a shooting there at approximately 1:45 a.m. When HCSO deputies and investigators and Virginia State Police arrived at the residence, they found a large outdoor party had been winding down when gunshots were fired by numerous people — “random shooters,” according to Clark.

Police have yet to establish a motive for the shootings or what may have touched off the gunfire. Police arrived to find a chaotic scene and officers remained at the Golden Leaf Road location for hours, collecting evidence and eyewitnesses accounts of what happened.

Clark said there was considerable confusion “with the people trying to leave and get out [of] there when the shots started.”

Two persons were arrested in the immediate aftermath of the party, although neither is a suspect in the shootings. Clark said police are continuing their investigation and more arrests will be forthcoming. He said police have not yet established who carried out the shootings.

Multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the sprawling crime scene, with State Police from Halifax, Charlotte and Pittsylvania assisting members of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office. South Boston Police and Town of Halifax Police also sent officers to help. The State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI) was called in to assist HCSO investigators with processing the crime scene.

The Halifax County Rescue Squad and North Halifax fire department rescue unit brought in units to tend to the injured.

The two suspects charged so far are Sherman Omar Howard, 38, who was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, and Shannon Louis Moore, who was charged with driving under the influence and felony unauthorized use of a vehicle. Neither is suspected of firing on others at the party.

Howard was charged after police, in talking with people at the scene, found him with a concealed weapon in his pocket. The handgun had not been fired, said Clark.

Moore was arrested by Virginia State Police after he had allegedly drove off from the party in a vehicle belonging to another person. Moore was intoxicated and appeared to be passed out in the vehicle as it was stopped in the road, according to State Police.

The case is still under investigation and anyone with information is asked to call HCSO Investigator Tracy Mocarsky at 434-476-3339 or the Halifax County Crime Line at 434-476-8445.

A separate incident — a multi-vehicle traffic crash on L.P. Bailey Highway near the Liberty area — was an offshoot of the party that took place miles away in northern Halifax County. While details of the incident were not immediately available, the crash involved partygoers who had left the scene in Republican Grove some time earlier. Several vehicles were badly damaged in the crash.

This story will be updated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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