Person of interest arrested in Lynchburg triple shooting

WSLS News Staff & Lynchburg News & Advance staff
Published: October 7, 2008

3:33 p.m.

Police have arrested a Lynchburg man in connection with the fatal shooting of another city man.
Kenneth Tyron Chatman is charged with:
• Second-degree murder;
• Two counts of malicious wounding;
• Shooting into an occupied vehicle;
• Four counts of use of a firearm during the commission of a felony;
• Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; and
• Possession of a sawed-off shotgun.
The charges are in connection with the death of Christopher Austin, 21, whom police found shot in the head last night.
Officers found him while responding to a malicious wounding call around 10:21 p.m. in the 200 block of Charlotte Street.
Austin was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Two other men, ages 18 and 20, were also shot, though their injuries were not life threatening.
Both were treated and released from Lynchburg General Hospital.
Police ask anyone who witnessed the incident or has information regarding this crime to contact Investigator J.T. Loyd with the Lynchburg Police Department at (434) 455-6178 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-798-5900.

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12:06 p.m.

Lynchburg Police have named a person of interest in the deadly shooting that happened Monday night on Charlotte Street.

Police are looking for 18-year-old Kenneth Chatman.

Anyone with information on Chatman’s whereabouts is asked to contact Lynchburg Police at 434-455-6054 or Crime Stoppers 1-888-798-5900.

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10:05 a.m. update

A Lynchburg man shot was fatally shot last night, police said.

Christopher Austin, 21, was shot in the head.

Officers found him while responding to a malicious wounding call around 10:21 p.m. in the 200 block of Charlotte Street.

Austin was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Two other men, ages 18 and 20, were also shot, though their injuries were not life threatening.

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6:53 a.m.

Two men were hospitalized with gunshot wounds Monday night in what police believe to be related incidents in and near downtown Lynchburg, said Capt. Wayne Duff with the Lynchburg Police Department.

At about 10:20 p.m., police responded to the scene of a shooting at the 200 block of Charlotte Street, off Rivermont Avenue, Duff said.

“During the course of responding, officers stopped a vehicle in the 500 block of Church Street,” he said. “Officers discovered that a male subject in the vehicle had also suffered a gunshot wound.

“He was not shot on Church Street, we believe that he sustained a gunshot wound while being in the area of Charlotte Street, then he was riding in a vehicle that was stopped on Church Street.”

Both men were transported to Lynchburg General Hospital, but their condition was not available, Duff said.

As of 11:30 Monday night, Duff said police had not yet made any arrests.

He said he could not yet release information on the identities of the two men, or where on their bodies they had been shot.

At that time, it was too early in the investigation to determine any motive or how the incident occurred, Duff said.

“Hopefully, we’ll have more (information) into the morning,” he said.