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ROAD RAGE SHOOTER -
A man has been charged in Barbour County after firing a firearm at a vehicle that âcut him off in Elkins,â troopers said.
On Oct. 31, troopers with the West Virginia State Police were advised of a male driving a pick-up truck who was shooting a firearm out of the vehicleâs window at another vehicle, according to a complaint.
When the victims drove to a residence near Chestnut Flats, Mark Simmons, 45, of Marlington, fired a second shot out of the window of his truck, troopers said.
When troopers arrived on scene, they made contact with Simmons who told them, âthe car cut me off in Elkins,â at which point he told troopers that he âshot 1 round out of the drivers window,â then âwatched the car pull into another road or drivewayâ whereupon he shot another round at the ground, according to the complaint.
Troopers said they could âdetect the odor of alcohol coming from Simmons breath,â to which Simmons told troopers that he âhad a few mixed drinks an hour ago,â troopers said.
Simmons has been charged with six counts of wanton endangerment. He is being held in Tygart Valley Regional Jail.
ROAD RAGE SHOOTER - A man was arrested Monday afternoon after he allegedly shot a gun at a car during a case of road rage.
It happened near Ona elementary, leading that school and Cabell Midland to go on lockdown.
According to the criminal complaint, a witness told the Cabell County Sheriffâs Department a little before 12:30 p.m. he was driving east on Route 60 when a small red car pulled off the road, and a man in that car started firing a handgun at a truck.
The complaint states after deputies were called to the scene, they were able to track down the suspect, Barry Ratliff, at his home on Blooming Hill Road in Ona.
The complaint says Ratliff had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath and later admitted to drinking alcohol at a restaurant earlier.
The complaint says the deputy asked where the gun was, and Ratliff told him it was in the tongue of the trailer.
The deputy found a Beretta 9mm pistol there, and after Ratliff gave permission for the deputy to search his car, the deputy found two spent 9mm casings in the back seat floorboard, the complaint says.
According to the complaint, Ratliff asked the deputy if he wanted to know what happened and then told him the man driving the red truck came over in his lane and kept âriding his (expletive deleted) and honking his horn.â
During his arraignment, Ratliff told the magistrate âItâs the first criminal action in 56 years, sir.â
The deputy also arrested Ratliffâs girlfriend, Karen Holley, who had an active warrant for shoplifting at Walmart in Huntington.
Ratliff is charged with three counts of wanton endangerment and one count of persons prohibited from possessing firearms. His bond was set at $33,000.
MAN ARRESTED IN WAYNE MURDER - West Virginia State Police said a man being sought in a fatal shooting in Wayne County was taken into custody Monday afternoon.
Dwayne Brewer, 60, of Mingo County was found on Hewlett Road, State Police said.
The State Police SRT team located the suspect in a wooded area by the river.
Police said the suspect and victim knew each other, living very close to each other on Perry Street.
"I believe they have knowledge of one another," Trooper J.J. Dean said. "The victim and his girlfriend was staying outside in the vehicle. The suspect lives at this residence with his sister. At least, he lives there partly."
Many friends of the victim were present at the crime scene, including longtime friend of Napier, Joshua Adkins.
"He didn't deserve this to happen to him, that's for sure. Which nobody does," Adkins said. "He was a real good guy. Everybody that knew him loved him."
Adkins said he recently met the suspect at Napier's house, and his first impression of him was not good.
"I didn't like him. When I met him, I even told Matt that," Adkins said. "I asked him what he was doing here. He really didn't have no other places to go. The guy was really weird."
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