Shooter was frequent visitor to Retirement Community
An officer shot an allegedly armed man at Friendship Retirement Community. Erica Yoon | The Roanoke Times
The Roanoke Times | July 15, 2014 | PDF and PDF
By Amy Friedenberger
Morning follow-up to an overnight breaking news story I responded to from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.
The man who exchanged gunfire with a Roanoke County officer Monday night had frequently visited a relative at the retirement community where the shooting occurred and had never caused problems before, the president and CEO of the facility said Tuesday.
Dennis Michael Wright, 59, of Roanoke was shot while in the lobby of the Health and Rehab Center at Friendship Retirement Community in the 300 block of Hershberger Road. He was taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where police spokeswoman Amy Whittaker said he was in stable condition Tuesday.
At 11:03 p.m. Monday, multiple 911 calls reported that a man with a handgun and shotgun or rifle had come into the facility, Whittaker said in a news release. Whittaker said the man fired a shot into the ceiling and ordered the staff to leave.
Roanoke County Police Chief Howard Hall said early Tuesday morning that county police, Virginia State police, Roanoke police and Roanoke County Fire & Rescue were sent to the facility.
Within two minutes, Whittaker said, Roanoke County Officer P. McMillan had arrived. He was directed to an upper floor where the man had last been seen, Whittaker said.
Employees there said the man had gone into the elevator, and McMillan ran back to the first floor, Whittaker said. The man left the elevator and crossed the lobby to the front door, where McMillan caught up with him and ordered him to drop his weapons.
Whittaker said the man complied initially, then bent to the ground, retrieved the handgun and aimed toward McMillan.
There was an exchange of gunfire between the man and McMillan and the man was struck, although Whittaker said she was not certain where the man was hit. McMillan was not injured. Hall said he is on administrative leave, which is protocol for such situations.
The number of shots fired is still being investigated. Whittaker said the long gun was a BB gun and the handgun was a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol.
“Members of our police department as well as other responding officers and fire and rescue did what was necessary to neutralize this situation in order to keep people safe,” Hall said.
Warrants have been obtained for Wright, charging him with attempted capital murder of a law enforcement officer, attempted malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, and two counts of shooting into an occupied dwelling. All charges are felonies.
Police believe Wright acted on his own. No officers, staff or residents at the facility were injured.
The Health and Rehab Center is composed of nine units that care for 363 residents receiving short- and long-term rehabilitation, said Russ Barksdale, president and CEO of Friendship Retirement Community. Whittaker said all of the rooms were secured within 38 minutes.
“You hate that this happened,” Barksdale said. “You know that families are dealing with personal issues and stress. Our goal is to keep our residents and staff safe and do everything in our power to help in that process.”
Barksdale said the man came to visit his mother, a patient at the rehabilitation center, around 11 p.m. Staffers at first noticed nothing unusual about the man, who was a frequent visitor, he said.
Barksdale said staff followed the proper protocol for such incidents, which included calling 911, placing the building on lockdown, dispatching a security officer who was making rounds at the time, calling adjacent units so they could be placed on lockdown, and keeping the man as isolated as possible.
Based on his understanding of what happened, Barksdale said he did not believe there is a need to change any policies that govern visitation.
“Our policy is to allow visitors to visit around the clock,” he said. “It’s an open policy and it will remain an open policy.”
The last officer-involved shooting in Roanoke County was in February 2008. In that incident, Micah Brentford Sword, 24, died at Roanoke Memorial. Police said at the time Sword opened fire on officers on U.S. 220 with an assault rifle following a police chase. The shooting was deemed justifiable.
County police are continuing to investigate the incident. Anyone with additional information may call Sgt. J. Johnson at 777-8689.
Staff writer Laurence Hammack contributed to this report.
By Amy Friedenberger
Morning follow-up to an overnight breaking news story I responded to from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.
The man who exchanged gunfire with a Roanoke County officer Monday night had frequently visited a relative at the retirement community where the shooting occurred and had never caused problems before, the president and CEO of the facility said Tuesday.
Dennis Michael Wright, 59, of Roanoke was shot while in the lobby of the Health and Rehab Center at Friendship Retirement Community in the 300 block of Hershberger Road. He was taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where police spokeswoman Amy Whittaker said he was in stable condition Tuesday.
At 11:03 p.m. Monday, multiple 911 calls reported that a man with a handgun and shotgun or rifle had come into the facility, Whittaker said in a news release. Whittaker said the man fired a shot into the ceiling and ordered the staff to leave.
Roanoke County Police Chief Howard Hall said early Tuesday morning that county police, Virginia State police, Roanoke police and Roanoke County Fire & Rescue were sent to the facility.
Within two minutes, Whittaker said, Roanoke County Officer P. McMillan had arrived. He was directed to an upper floor where the man had last been seen, Whittaker said.
Employees there said the man had gone into the elevator, and McMillan ran back to the first floor, Whittaker said. The man left the elevator and crossed the lobby to the front door, where McMillan caught up with him and ordered him to drop his weapons.
Whittaker said the man complied initially, then bent to the ground, retrieved the handgun and aimed toward McMillan.
There was an exchange of gunfire between the man and McMillan and the man was struck, although Whittaker said she was not certain where the man was hit. McMillan was not injured. Hall said he is on administrative leave, which is protocol for such situations.
The number of shots fired is still being investigated. Whittaker said the long gun was a BB gun and the handgun was a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol.
“Members of our police department as well as other responding officers and fire and rescue did what was necessary to neutralize this situation in order to keep people safe,” Hall said.
Warrants have been obtained for Wright, charging him with attempted capital murder of a law enforcement officer, attempted malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, and two counts of shooting into an occupied dwelling. All charges are felonies.
Police believe Wright acted on his own. No officers, staff or residents at the facility were injured.
The Health and Rehab Center is composed of nine units that care for 363 residents receiving short- and long-term rehabilitation, said Russ Barksdale, president and CEO of Friendship Retirement Community. Whittaker said all of the rooms were secured within 38 minutes.
“You hate that this happened,” Barksdale said. “You know that families are dealing with personal issues and stress. Our goal is to keep our residents and staff safe and do everything in our power to help in that process.”
Barksdale said the man came to visit his mother, a patient at the rehabilitation center, around 11 p.m. Staffers at first noticed nothing unusual about the man, who was a frequent visitor, he said.
Barksdale said staff followed the proper protocol for such incidents, which included calling 911, placing the building on lockdown, dispatching a security officer who was making rounds at the time, calling adjacent units so they could be placed on lockdown, and keeping the man as isolated as possible.
Based on his understanding of what happened, Barksdale said he did not believe there is a need to change any policies that govern visitation.
“Our policy is to allow visitors to visit around the clock,” he said. “It’s an open policy and it will remain an open policy.”
The last officer-involved shooting in Roanoke County was in February 2008. In that incident, Micah Brentford Sword, 24, died at Roanoke Memorial. Police said at the time Sword opened fire on officers on U.S. 220 with an assault rifle following a police chase. The shooting was deemed justifiable.
County police are continuing to investigate the incident. Anyone with additional information may call Sgt. J. Johnson at 777-8689.
Staff writer Laurence Hammack contributed to this report.
