USA Today – by Doug StranglinThe two bodies found in the back of a pickup truck have been identified as a North Carolina couple allegedly shot by a father and son from Texas who went on a multi-state crime spree that ended in the bizarre roadside shooting of two West Virginia police officers.
The rampage unraveled Thursday when the two Lewisburg officers pulled over a white Chevy SUV that allegedly had stolen plates from North Carolina. After stopping the vehicle, a man later claiming to be the first driver’s father pulled over nearby in a red pickup truck, according to N.C. Granville County Sheriff Brindell Wilkins Jr, WRAL-TV reports.
The father then allegedly opened fire on the two officers, injuring both while the driver of the SUV took off. The officers, both listed later in good and stable condition, fired back, hitting the gunman the leg.
The shooter “went over the hillside and was eventually taken into custody,” West Virginia State Police Lt. Michael Baylous said in a news release, WSAZ-TV reports.
Meanwhile, the son abandoned the SUV not far away behind a guardrail and struck out on foot before later turning himself into authorities.
Authorities have not released the identities of the two suspects, although Granville County officials say they are from Texas. Wilkins said the son has spoken to West Virginia investigators but the father has not.
The two bodies found under a mattress in the bed of the pickup have been identified by North Carolina authorities as Jerome Faulkner, 73, and his wife, Dora, 62, from the Oak Hill area of North Carolina.
Wilkins said officers discovered the pair missing after responding to a fire at the Faulkner’s home Thursday morning.
Wilkins said he believes the two men broke into the couple’s home around 7 a.m., set the house on fire, killed the couple, loaded their into the struck and drove nearly four hours to West Virginia, WRAL reports. It was not clear whether the suspects knew the couple beforehand.
“We believe that if West Virginia police would not have stopped this, this crime spree would have carried on,” Wilkins said. “It’s something you see in the movies. It’s unreal.”