VIDEO: Bodies Found at West Virginia Traffic Stop After Shootout Wounds 2 Officers
The bodies of a Granville County, N.C., couple were discovered after a shootout with police on a West Virginia highway Thursday. Two officers were wounded in the shootout.
Investigators said the bizarre incident started around 7 a.m. on New Year's Day when two men burst into the home of Jerome Faulkner, 73, and his wife Dora, 62, near Oak Hill, N.C. - northwest of Oxford. The house was set on fire and the couple taken along with their pickup truck.
Then, around 4 p.m. on Interstate 64 West near the Lewisburg, West Virginia exit, two police officers pulled over a white Chevrolet SUV with a North Carolina license plate that showed it was stolen, WTVD TV reports.
During the stop, a red Chevy pickup truck pulled over at the same time. The driver of the truck got out and shot at the police officers with a pistol, wounding both. Lt. Michael Baylous of the West Virginia State Police said one officer returned fire, wounding the suspect in the leg.
The driver of the truck fled on foot over a hillside next to the shooting scene, but was eventually taken into custody by the Greenbrier County Sheriff's Department, Baylous said.
During a search, authorities found the bodies of the Faulkners under a mattress in the bed of the truck.
The suspects' identities have not yet been verified but they claim to be father and son from Texas. The two suspects face a minimum of charges of malicious assault and attempted murder of a police officer in Greenbrier County and more charges are expected.
