Shootings in Roanoke, Salem lead to police chase, crash

WSLS News Staff
Published: August 6, 2008

Updated 12:46 p.m

Salem Police say they have arrested a second person in connection with their shooting investigation.

Officers tell us they arrested 18-year-old Demetrius Ronell Cooper today.  Police charged Cooper with: Malicious wonding, shooting into an occupied dwelling, and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Salem Police now say a follow up investigation revealed that one of the bullets fired during the shooting at Salem Commons Apartments Tuesday night, hit one of the apartment buildlings.  That led to the charge of “shooting into an occupied dwelling” being placed.

------------

Updated 11:22 a.m.

Roanoke City Police add new information about the case.

Roanoke City officers say the same car that Salem Police say was involved in a shooting in Salem, was also involved in a shooting in Roanoke.

Roanoke investigators tell us around 8:17 p.m. on Tuesday, August 5th, someone fired shots at a house in the 2000 block of Moorman Avenue. Two people were sitting on the front porch of the house. Luckily, no one was hurt.

Then around 9:46 p.m., a Roanoke officer spotted the suspect vehicle driving west on Melrose Avenue, where the road intersects with 35th Street. The officer tried to pull the car over, but the driver refused to stop.

Police chased the car, and the officer says the driver of the car drove through a chain link fence at the back of a home in the 1400 block of Abbott Street. Then the car drover through a storage building behind a home in the 1400 block of Fresno Street, hit the rear corner of the home, and then a large tree in front of the home. The officer chasing the car says a driver and passenger got out, and ran off.

Roanoke City Police say they caught the passenger later, and turned him over to Salem Police. Officers are still searching for the driver.

If you have any information, call the Crime Line at 344-8500.

----------

Original story 10:03 a.m.

What started with a man being shot in Salem, ends with a car crashing into a fence and house in Roanoke.

Salem Police say Milton Jeffries was shot around 8:40 p.m. on Tuesday, August 5th, in the 1700 block of Salem Commons Lane at the Salem Commons Apartments. Jeffries told officers that he had pulled into the parking lot to visit a friend. Then, several people in a Ford Taurus accosted Jeffries, and one of the people inside the Taurus shot at Jeffries. One of the bullets hit Jeffries in the shoulder.

The Taurus then drove off.

Salem Police put out an alert, and Roanoke City Police found the car in Northwest Roanoke. The car took off, and police chased after it. The Taurus ended up crashing into a fence and hours in the 1400 block of Fresno Street NW.

Police say the men inside the Taurus ran off from the scene. Officers found one, and arrested him. Police identified the man as 20-year-old Darrin James Lester. Officers charged Lester with one count of malicious wounding - principle in the second degree, in connection with the Salem shooting. Lester is being held in the Roanoke County/Salem jail without bond.

Police are still searching for the other people believed to be involved.

If you have any information, call the Crime Line at 344-8500.