MARTINSVILLE, VA – One man is dead after a weekend homicide in Martinsville - an act of violence Police Chief Robert Fincher said left the community stunned.
”There’s nothing more traumatic to the community than a wrongful loss of life,” Fincher said.
Martinsville is grappling with the death of 47-year-old Antoine Preston, after an apparent homicide Saturday night.
Fincher said Preston was in a truck when it was shot and went over a guard rail on Fayette Street.
”The officer gets out of the car, he sees the car over the embankment. He also sees some shell casings in the road which indicates this had been a shooting,” Fincher said.
Fincher told 10 News this was a targeted event.
”There were bullet holes in the truck,” he said.
Preston’s body is currently at the medical examiner’s office for an autopsy to find out the cause of death.
“Whether it was from being shot, or from trauma from the crash,” Fincher said.
Fincher said because Martinsville is so small, devastating incidents like this hit harder.
”Because we know each other all so well in this community, it saddens a lot of people. It greatly affects us, it’s not isolating,” he said.
He said many people have called in with tips regarding this case.
”The more information we can obtain the better,” he said.
This is an ongoing investigation, but Chief Fincher said they’re currently interviewing persons of interest.