Alleghany County man sentenced to 35 years for shooting at officers

Incident happened in March of 2019

Marshall Meadows has been sentenced to 35 years for shooting at several law enforcement officers ((WSLS 10 / Alleghany Regional Jail))

An Alleghany County man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison after shooting at multiple law enforcement officers during a standoff in 2019.

Marshall Meadows, 61, was sentenced Thursday after a four-hour hearing, according to the Alleghany County Commonwealth’s Attorney. He was sentenced to 180 years of suspended time in addition to the 35-year sentenced for the attempted murder of nine officers.

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Meadows pleaded guilty to nine counts of attempted capital murder and five firearms charges as a result of the two-hour standoff.

On March 20, 2019, officers received multiple shots fired calls from people in Iron Gate, according to Alleghany County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Gardner.

They responded to 802 Commerce Avenue shortly after 9:30 p.m. and were shot at by Meadows, who was inside the home.

Gardner said that Meadows was drinking and angry and used a 12-gauge shotgun, a .30-06-caliber rifle and a .22-caliber magnum rifle to fire at members of the Alleghany County Sheriff’s Office, Clifton Forge Police Department and Virginia State Police.

While Meadows did not hit any officers, he did hit a Virginia State Police vehicle.

After the hours-long standoff, Capt. Steve Thrasher and Sgt. Chris Fisher, both with the Alleghany County Sheriff’s Office, were able to negotiate with Meadows and convince him to surrender.

No officers fired their weapons at Meadows during the incident, said Gardner.

During his sentencing hearing, the commonwealth’s attorney said Meadows apologized to the officers in the courtroom for his crimes.

“It’s a miracle that nobody was killed,” Gardner said at the hearing. “These officers defused the situation and ended it without loss of life. When gunshots ring out, everyone else’s inclination is to run away. They put their lives on the line to protect the rest of us. So, the next time you see on of our local law enforcement officers on the street you ought to say thank you.”