Shots fired, cars crashed on Airport Road

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November 8, 2012

Shots fired, cars crashed on Airport Road

By TAMMIE TOLER Princeton Times The Zope Gazette Thu Nov 08, 2012, 07:21 PM EST

PRINCETON — Shots were reportedly fired, and at least one car was crashed during what appeared to be an altercation on wheels Thursday afternoon on Airport Road.

“This situation is pretty fluid right now,” Mercer County Sheriff’s Department Lt. J.E. Parks advised media personnel covering the harrowing situation that started in the early afternoon, reportedly near Airport Tavern.

While facts remained sketchy with three people in custody and three being held for treatment at Bluefield Regional Medical Center, the MCSD issued a media release confirming the few details available.

At approximately 1:30 p.m., Mercer County 911 received a report that two vehicles were racing on West Virginia Route 123, possibly exchanging gunfire at high rates of speed. The vehicles believed to be involved included a red Chevy Beretta or Impala and a silver vehicle, described by witnesses to be a Cadillac.

As officers from the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department and the West Virginia State Police Princeton detachment hurried to the scene, another 911 call indicated the red vehicle had wrecked on Route 123 and that the occupants inside that vehicle were entering a green Ford Explorer, which turned toward Green Valley.

“One vehicle was rammed, and it looks like gunshots were exchanged,” MCSD’s Det. Cpl. L.B. Murphy said. “We believe one individual fled from one of the vehicles into the woods.”

Meanwhile, “Deputy Eric Parks saw the Explorer and executed a traffic stop on Maple Acres Road at Green Valley PSD,” Lt. Joe Parks advised in the media release. “Deputies and troopers conducted a felony traffic stop and removed six men from the Explorer. Three of the occupants removed were extremely muddy and had received injuries consistent with being involved in a crash. No occupant was found to be shot.”

A firearm was found along Airport Road, in the vicinity of Kee Dam. There, a silver Cavalier was also located and secured. As of last report the Cadillac remained unidentified and unconfirmed. One officer speculated the witnesses may have reported the Cavalier as a Cadillac.

State Police officers closed Airport Road for most of Thursday afternoon, searching for other persons or firearms that might have been involved in the incident. MCSD officers also closed Maple Acres Road, where the green Explorer registered to a woman on Rockbridge Street in Bluefield, was detained.

Three of the detainees were transported to Mercer County Sheriff’s Department. At least three others were believed to be receiving treatment late Thursday afternoon, and one remained on the lam in the vicinity of Sisters Mobile Home Park.

By 3 p.m., a second firearm was discovered on Maple Acres Road, behind Swamp-fox.

A crowd of men gathered around the firearm, as they awaited Sgt. S.J. Cary’s arrival to retrieve the weapon.

“I was walking to the Go-Mart and saw this laying there,” a man wearing a camouflage sweatshirt told Cary.

The officer retrieved the firearm — a handgun revolver that had seen better days — from the gravel beside the road.

While officers said it is likely criminal charges will follow in this case, none were filed while the investigation continued. At press time, only one of the subjects — Dante Baker, 20, of Bluefield — had been arrested on a parole violation.

Baker was previously charged with firing a shot inside Mercer Mall in August 2010.

It was not clear what role, if any, he played in Thursday’s altercation or which parole violation he was arrested for.

Officers reported they cleared the Kee Dam scene just by 5 p.m.

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