WAYNE COUNTY, VIRGINIA: David Maynard, an Ohio man who was suspected of murdering his stepfather and multiple carjackings, has been shot dead by police after taking multiple people hostage inside a gas station in West Virginia.
A manhunt for Maynard began on Friday, September 8 when Ohio police officers arrived at a home on 3rd South Street in Ironton following a report of gunshots.
Upon their arrival, officers found his 39-year-old ex-girlfriend tied with cords and the deceased body of his 78-year-old stepfather, Donald Wood.
“A 39-year old female was tied up using cords and [officers] cut her loose, then proceeded to clear the rest of the house and they found a 78-year-old male deceased,” Ironton Chief of Police Dan Johnson told WSAZ.
Where did police find David Maynard?
Police then issued a search warrant for Maynard, who was wanted on multiple other charges including kidnapping, tampering with evidence, theft of the motor vehicle, and weapons under disability.
After evading arrest, Maynard made his way about 35 miles south to Louisa, Kentucky, where he abducted a woman and stole her car, according to Kentucky State Police Trooper Shane Goodall.
Goodall noted that the suspect then drove to a nearby Dollar General before abandoning the vehicle and leaving the woman alone, as per Law and Crime.
WCHS officers were looking for Maynard, according to West Virginia State Police Capt RA Maddy, when Sgt Lee Pennington saw him at a Speedway petrol station in Ceredo.
Maddy reported that Maynard was standing behind the counter next to a clerk and pointed a gun at Pennington, who was standing outside.
How did David Maynard die?
After warning the officers, Maynard took the clerk and two other people hostage inside the gas station at around 12.15 am on Sunday.
WVSP called in the Special Response Team along with a negotiator who made contact with Maynard. The negotiator spoke with Maynard for around 90 minutes before rescuing two of the three hostages.
Maynard then requested a blanket be put at the front door for the remaining hostage. As he went to pick up the blanket, several SRT officers fired dozens of shots that struck him.
Maynard was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead a few hours later.
Similar incident near Hampton
Maynard’s shooting death came just a few weeks after a man, wanted for the fatal shootings of four people in Hampton, was shot dead during a stand-off with law enforcement
Andre Longmore, 40, was killed in July after he exchanged gunfire with a sheriff’s deputy and injured two police officers near Hampton in suburban Jonesboro.
"We gave chase, reengaged the suspect, he produced a handgun again, gunfire was exchanged and the suspect was neutralized," Henry County Sheriff Reginald B Scandrett said at the time.
Longmore’s death came just a day after he killed four residents of a home along a street on Wagon Wheel Court in Jonesboro.
The victims were later identified as Scott Levitt, 67, Shirley Levitt, 66, Steve Blizzard, 65, and Ronald Jeffers, 66. The motive is unknown, but Hampton Police Chief James Turner said the four homicides occurred at different locations.