Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
|
|
 |
|
|
Marcos Chavez Gonzalez |
Monday, November 2, 2009
By FROM BULLETIN AND AP REPORTS -
The man sought in connection with the slayings of four people in Mt. Airy, N.C., on Sunday was caught early Monday at a Henry County motel.
Marcos Chavez Gonzalez, 24, of 146 S. Ridge Road, Mt. Airy, was taken into custody at 3:50 a.m. Monday at the Super 8 motel on Memorial Boulevard, according to Lt. R.E. Walker of the Henry County Sheriff's Office.
Walker said information from the Mt. Airy police and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation led Henry County Sheriff's officers to the Super 8. Gonzalez was contacted through the motel phone, confirmed his identity and came out of the motel room without incident, Walker added.
Gonzalez was wearing a dark-colored T-shirt, jeans and black bedroom-type shoes when he surrendered, the officer said.
Ben Patel, manager of the Super 8 motel, said a white male rented the room around 11 or 11:30 p.m. Sunday. Patel said he did not see Gonzalez.
After officers arrived at the Super 8, Patel helped clear the second floor of other guests before Gonzalez was apprehended.
Taking part in the capture were 15 to 20 county officers, four officers from the Martinsville Police Department and one from the Virginia State Police, according to Walker.
Gonzalez was arrested on the fugitive warrant from North Carolina on the four first-degree murder charges from North Carolina, Walker said.
Gonzales waived extradition to North Carolina early Monday, Walker said. He remained in the Henry County Jail as of 9:30 a.m. Monday, Walker added.
According to The Associated Press, the four men were shot at a northwestern North Carolina television store on Sunday, and authorities said had been looking for a suspect who might be armed with an assault rifle.
Mount Airy Police Chief Dale Watson said at a news conference that the victims were shot in the parking lot of Woods TV store in the town on the Virginia border, less than a mile from the police station. Police said a warrant has been issued for the arrest of Gonzalez, who was charged with four counts of murder.
Watson said the victims and the suspect were at the television store for a reason.
“We don’t feel this was a random event,” Watson said. “We do have an idea why (they were shot), but we won’t be releasing that.”
Nursing supervisor Sue Coe at Northern Hospital of Surry County confirmed that two people died at the store around 2:30 p.m. She said two who were wounded died at the hospital, just across the street from the store. Woods TV sells televisions and satellite systems.
Police said the victims’ names were being withheld because their families had not been notified. Watson said all four were from Surry County, which includes Mount Airy. The town served as the inspiration for the television town of Mayberry in “The Andy Griffith Show.”
WXII-TV in Winston-Salem reported that people who knew the victims gathered near the store and began crying and collapsing to the ground.
Mount Airy has a population of about 8,700.
Additional details will be posted on this site a soon as they become available. |
| |
|
|
|
.jpg)
