Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Police Arrest Transit Employee in Double Slaying Near Woodbridge, Va., Bus Terminal - washingtonpost.com

Police Arrest Transit Employee in Double Slaying Near Woodbridge, Va., Bus Terminal - washingtonpost.com

A bus driver and another man were fatally shot yesterday morning near a bus terminal in Woodbridge, and a suspect was arrested last night and charged with murder, Prince William County police said.


Police said that the bus driver and the suspect were employees of the Potomac and Rappahannock Transit Commission and that the shooting might have stemmed from a dispute between them.

The shooting occurred about 11 a.m. at the commission's headquarters.

Police identified the victims as Darnell McPherson, 32, of Dale City, who apparently was a bus driver, and William E. Anderson Jr., 34. The suspect was identified by police as Glenn K. Wade, 40.

Anderson and Wade were listed by police as living at the same address on Wren Court in Woodbridge.

Police did not say whether Wade was charged in both deaths.

When police went to the shooting scene, they found a sport-utility vehicle with bullet holes in it on the side of Telegraph Road. The two victims were nearby, one in a wooded area close to Interstate 95.

The victims died shortly after being found, police said.

Police said Wade turned himself in about 7:30 p.m.

Late last night, police said the investigation found that "there was an altercation between Wade and McPherson." The altercation "may have escalated and led to the shooting," police said in a statement. They said that the investigation was continuing and that the sequence of events remained unclear.

"I'm shocked by it, just like everyone else," said Michael C. May, chairman of the PRTC. "I really grieve for the victims' families."

A handgun was found near the scene, and rounds from a handgun were recovered from the SUV, said 1st Sgt. Kim Chinn, a Prince William police spokeswoman. It is unclear who the gun belonged to, Chinn said, and police were investigating the possibility that there had been an exchange of gunfire.

It was also unclear whether the victims were inside the vehicle at the time they were shot, police said.

Police set up a perimeter yesterday around the area of the shootings while a large ground and aerial search was conducted for a suspect.

The slain bus driver was employed by First Transit, a Cincinnati-based company that contracts with PRTC to operate and maintain the agency's buses, said Glenda Lamont, a First Transit spokeswoman.

The PRTC facility, in addition to being the commission's headquarters, is a bus terminal and the main transfer point for eastern Prince William. Police had it on lockdown yesterday, and buses could not exit in time to serve afternoon passengers, commission spokeswoman Christine Rodrigo said.

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