Bodies found in pickup after shootout with West Virginia cops
Kara Van Pelt, REUTERS
First posted: Friday, January 02, 2015 11:19 AM EST | Updated: Friday, January 02, 2015 02:42 PM EST
BECKLEY, W. VA. - A Texas father and son on a multi-state crime spree killed a North Carolina couple, set their home on fire, stole their truck and then shot and wounded two police officers in West Virginia, authorities said on Friday.
Police arrested the men in West Virginia on Thursday after a shootout in which the officers were slightly wounded. West Virginia State Police identified the suspects as Edward Campbell, 54, and Eric Campbell, 21, of Indian Acres, Texas.
The father-son crime wave "is something you see in the movies. It's unreal," Sheriff Brindell Wilkins of North Carolina's Granville County told Raleigh's WRAL television.
Wilkins said the Campbells were driving a stolen SUV and allegedly broke into the home of Jerome Faulkner, 73, and his wife, Dora, 62, near Oak Hill, North Carolina, about 7 a.m. on Thursday.
The pair set the house on fire, killed the couple and loaded the bodies into the Faulkner's red pickup before driving off in both vehicles to West Virginia, Wilkins said.
West Virginia State Police said in a statement that two Lewisburg police officers noticed the SUV with stolen North Carolina plates and pulled it over on Interstate 64.
The truck stopped as well and its driver, Edward Campbell, opened fire on the officers with a pistol, striking both, police said. One officer returned fire and wounded Campbell in the leg, the statement said.
The elder Campbell ran into the woods and was arrested shortly afterward, police said. Eric Campbell, who was driving the SUV, sped away but turned himself in after hiding behind a highway guardrail, police said.
A search of the truck turned up the Faulkners' bodies hidden beneath a mattress, police said.
The officers were in good condition at Greenbrier Valley Medical Center and are expected to be released on Friday, according to West Virginia State Police spokesman Lieutenant Michael Baylous. Edward Campbell also was taken to a hospital.
The two are being charged in West Virginia with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer and two counts of malicious assault on a police officer.
Eric Campbell is pictured in this undated handout booking photo provided by the Greenbrier County Sheriff's Department. Texas father Edward Campbell and his son Eric Campbell killed a husband and wife on a multi-state crime spree in North Carolina, set their home on fire, stole their truck and then shot two police officers in West Virginia, authorities said on January 2, 2015. REUTERS/Greenbrier County Sheriff's Department/Handout
Bodies found in pickup after shootout with West Virginia cops | World | News | T
Kara Van Pelt, REUTERS
First posted: Friday, January 02, 2015 11:19 AM EST | Updated: Friday, January 02, 2015 02:42 PM EST
BECKLEY, W. VA. - A Texas father and son on a multi-state crime spree killed a North Carolina couple, set their home on fire, stole their truck and then shot and wounded two police officers in West Virginia, authorities said on Friday.
Police arrested the men in West Virginia on Thursday after a shootout in which the officers were slightly wounded. West Virginia State Police identified the suspects as Edward Campbell, 54, and Eric Campbell, 21, of Indian Acres, Texas.
The father-son crime wave "is something you see in the movies. It's unreal," Sheriff Brindell Wilkins of North Carolina's Granville County told Raleigh's WRAL television.
Wilkins said the Campbells were driving a stolen SUV and allegedly broke into the home of Jerome Faulkner, 73, and his wife, Dora, 62, near Oak Hill, North Carolina, about 7 a.m. on Thursday.
The pair set the house on fire, killed the couple and loaded the bodies into the Faulkner's red pickup before driving off in both vehicles to West Virginia, Wilkins said.
West Virginia State Police said in a statement that two Lewisburg police officers noticed the SUV with stolen North Carolina plates and pulled it over on Interstate 64.
The truck stopped as well and its driver, Edward Campbell, opened fire on the officers with a pistol, striking both, police said. One officer returned fire and wounded Campbell in the leg, the statement said.
The elder Campbell ran into the woods and was arrested shortly afterward, police said. Eric Campbell, who was driving the SUV, sped away but turned himself in after hiding behind a highway guardrail, police said.
A search of the truck turned up the Faulkners' bodies hidden beneath a mattress, police said.
The officers were in good condition at Greenbrier Valley Medical Center and are expected to be released on Friday, according to West Virginia State Police spokesman Lieutenant Michael Baylous. Edward Campbell also was taken to a hospital.
The two are being charged in West Virginia with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer and two counts of malicious assault on a police officer.
Eric Campbell is pictured in this undated handout booking photo provided by the Greenbrier County Sheriff's Department. Texas father Edward Campbell and his son Eric Campbell killed a husband and wife on a multi-state crime spree in North Carolina, set their home on fire, stole their truck and then shot two police officers in West Virginia, authorities said on January 2, 2015. REUTERS/Greenbrier County Sheriff's Department/Handout
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