CROSS LANES, W.Va. — The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department tried to resolve a standoff in Cross Lanes over the weekend peacefully, but investigators said the man they were after had other ideas.
Kanawha County Sheriff Mike Rutherford said his deputies received a tip of a man wanted in Logan County who was in a room at the Rodeway Inn in Cross Lanes. Deputies went to the motel and worked with motel management to evacuate all guests in the vicinity of the man’s room. The tip had also indicated the individual was probably armed. The sheriff said they tried to lure him from the room with a phone call from the front desk.
“He came out and got in his vehicle and took off. Our deputies tried to stop him and when they did he took out a handgun and started firing at them,” said Rutherford.
The deputies returned fire and fatally struck the individual in his car as he tried to get away.
“Our deputies spent probably an hour and a half or so trying to get him safely out of there, but the incident itself was probably no more than seconds. It was just a very quick situation,” said the Sheriff.
Nobody else was injured in the incident. The Sheriff’s Department has still not released the man’s name since there has been a problem notifying some of his family. Rutherford said the suspect was wanted for drug violations in Logan County and had skipped out on home confinement.