UPDATE: Robberies, shooting have police on lookout

By JIM TALBERT\Staff

TAZEWELL – Police used a bloodhound to search for the gunman who is thought to have robbed two Tazewell County stories before shooting and wounding a deputy early Friday morning.

A white Mitsubishi sport utility vehicle with Virginia handicapped license plate 16470, thought to have been driven by the person wanted in the crimes, was found before noon, abandoned at a Subway restaurant near Bluefield College.

The vehicle was found in a shopping plaza at the corner of Leatherwood and College avenues in Bluefield, Va. The campus was placed under lockdown, according to the public relations director. A bloodhound brought in to find the person wanted in the robberies and shooting tracked a scent to the edge of campus, officials said. Police were still on the scene around 11:30 a.m.

Tazewell County Sheriff H.S. Caudill said the incidents started with an armed robbery at Double Kwik at Claypool Hill around 5 a.m. Shortly after that another armed robbery took place at 67 Grocery in Richlands. Police believed the robber had headed toward Jewell Ridge and started searching in that direction.

In the meantime, County Deputy Greg Mullins spotted a vehicle matching the Mitsubishi’s description on the Bluefield-Tazewell Road. Mullins chased the vehicle and stopped it near Graham Middle School. He waited for a Bluefield Town Officer to arrive before approaching the car. When the two officers approached, the driver rolled down the window and fired at the officers. Caudill said Mullins was struck in the abdomen and the right hand.

The Bluefield officer returned fire as the vehicle sped away. Another Bluefield officer was coming to the scene and saw the deputy fall. He radioed that the deputy had been shot and cut through the median and started pursuing the vehicle. The SUV was last seen crossing into West Virginia.

Police officers from across the area set up a staging area near the school to begin the search. Extra deputies and officers from other departments were called in to help. Richlands Police Officer Gary Childress was en route to the scene when he crashed his cruiser on the Bluefield-Tazewell road. Virginia State Police is investigating that wreck. Mullins was taken to Bluefield Regional Medical Center where he was treated and released. Caudill said the officer’s bullet-proof vest saved him. Childress was flown from the scene and his condition is unknown.