Wednesday, April 30, 2008
First homicide in decade hits Salem
A shooting took place in a Food Lion parking lot in the middle of the afternoon.
Photos by Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times
A crowd looks out at a crime scene Tuesday at the Food Lion parking lot. The store closed about 4:15 p.m.
Salem police gather evidence from a shooting Tuesday in the Food Lion parking lot on Wildwood Road in Salem. According to city spokeswoman Melinda Payne, a shooting took place there about 3 p.m. that left one man dead. Payne said he had been shot about 12 times.
Witness Roger Barnett, who called 911, said a blond, white male shot the victim "point blank. Period. Unloaded his pistol into him" and then shot the victim again when he fell.
Salem saw its first homicide in a decade Tuesday afternoon, a shooting officials said occurred in a public place during broad daylight.
According to Salem spokeswoman Melinda Payne, a man opened fire on another man shortly before 3 p.m. during an argument in the parking lot of the Food Lion grocery store on Wildwood Road.
When police arrived, they found James Richard Fleshman Jr., 48, of the 6500 block of Wendover Road Northwest in Roanoke, lying in the parking lot, according to a release issued by the Salem Police Department. He had been shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Payne said Fleshman had been shot "at least 12 times" with what she believed was a handgun.
Salem police said that about 3:15 p.m., Montgomery County authorities detained a suspect in Christiansburg who, Payne said, matched witness descriptions of the gunman.
Cpl. Jon Eaton of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said the man was apprehended just inside the town limits on Roanoke Road, near Rugs and Stuff Factory Outlet. Payne said the suspect was driving a dark sport utility vehicle when he was apprehended.
Salem police have identified the suspect as Brian Stuart Sheppard, 38, of the 1500 block of Sleepy Hollow Road in Christiansburg. Sheppard has been charged with homicide and the use of a firearm in commission of a felony. He is being held in the Roanoke County-Salem Jail.
Officials declined to comment Tuesday night on whether the two men knew each other or what the conflict was about.
Roger Barnett of Salem said he witnessed the shooting and called 911. He said he had pulled into the parking lot to buy groceries for dinner and was getting out of his truck when he heard a gunshot he said was fired by a blond, white male whom he did not know.
Brian Sheppard
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"I saw him shoot him. Point blank. Period. Unloaded his pistol into him," Barnett said. "I looked up, seen him shooting him four or five times. Then when the guy hit the ground, he shot him four or five more times."
Barnett said the gunman then got into "a fairly new model Jeep" and left the parking lot without a word. Barnett said his cellphone log listed his 911 call at 3:02 p.m.
During the investigation, Tuesday's strong winds picked up some of the small numbered signs used to mark the gunman's discarded shell casings -- which numbered at least 13 -- and police used shopping carts, white sheets, "zip strip" restraints and yellow plastic to build a makeshift screen around the victim's body and shield it from spectators in the parking lot. At times, the firemen and police officers had to hold the shield steady against the persistent winds.
The Food Lion where the shooting took place closed about 4:15 p.m., and calls to the store were not answered Tuesday night.
The last homicide in Salem occurred in September 1998.
