APPOMATTOX (WSLS 10). – State police finished their investigation into December 2015 Campbell County hostage situation.
The Campbell County Commonwealth's Attorney validated the investigative findings and officially closed the case Thursday.
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As determined by the Office of the Medical Examiner in Roanoke, Trevon J. Scruggs, 24, of Concord, died of a self-inflicted gunshot and suffered no other injuries during the course of the incident.
The 15-hour hostage incident began Friday, December 18, 2015, at 9:29 p.m., when the Campbell County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call about a man who was armed with a gun and locked himself inside a bedroom at a home on Quarry Lane. The man, Scruggs, had also taken his 3-year-old son hostage in the room with him.
Sheriff's deputies immediately responded and were able to gain entry into the home. They made repeated attempts to contact Scruggs and spent hours trying to negotiate his son's safe release and Scruggs' surrender.
At approximately 2:58 a.m. the next day, Scruggs shot through the bedroom door at a deputy on the other side. The deputy had been trying to make verbal contact with Scruggs. The deputy was not injured. No shots were fired by the deputies.
At 8 a.m., after almost 11 hours of attempting to safely resolve the situation, the Campbell County Sheriff's Office Special Response Team was relieved of its position inside the home by the Virginia State Police Tactical Team. Hostage negotiations continued with state police. As a result of the earlier shooting, the sheriff's office had also obtained an arrest warrant for attempted capital murder of a police officer to serve on Scruggs.
Shortly before 12:05 p.m., Saturday, the 3-year-old son emerged from the bedroom. As a state police negotiator was trying to coax the toddler to safety, Scruggs began shooting at the state police special agent and Tactical Team members inside the residence. State police returned fire as Scruggs retreated back into the bedroom.
After the State Police Tactical Team made entry into the bedroom, Scruggs was found suffering from a gunshot wound to the head and a handgun still in his possession. Scruggs was flown to Lynchburg General Hospital where he died later Saturday afternoon.
The toddler, who was rescued from the house by one of the Tactical Team Troopers during the incident, was not harmed.
No state police personnel were injured.