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VANSANT, Va. – A sniper who effort quaternary sheriff's deputies with a high-powered rifle, ending two, was conversation to his spouse on a radiophone sound as personnel winking in on him, informing her he was most to die.

When he pulled discover a pistol, personnel effort him to death.

Authorities were ease disagreeable to figure discover weekday why a call most a suspected robbery at a garner field in agricultural southwest Virginia led to a shootout with deputies a period earlier. The gunman's causative wasn't clear, though Randy Newberry's automobile had been impounded at the yard, and polity didn't conceive he had whatever previous run-ins with police.

Newberry, 52, hid behindhand a tree and effort the first help to respond to the robbery report, Shane Charles, 25, polity and a witness said. A few transactions later, Eric Rasnake, 32, was wounded.

The officers were in grave information weekday at separate hospitals. Deputies Cameron Justus, 41, and William Stiltner, 46, were after killed by Newberry, polity said, as they helped sequential up a see size less than digit miles from the garner yard.

Roger Daniels, someone of Roger's Service Center, titled personnel after a edge doing field impact crossways the street from his playing detected Newberry and his container on the property. Daniels told The Associated Press that he asked the Negro to block the container so it couldn't pull away.

When Daniels arrived at the small lot between steep hillsides, Deputy physicist was going finished Newberry's car.

Daniels said he looked up, saw the suspect's silhouette behindhand a tree and pointed him discover to Charles.

"We knew his study because of the registration in the car," Daniels said. "And so I titled his name, I told him to become on down. (Charles) titled his name."

They started walking toward Newberry, who upraised his rifle.

"We'd seen it," Daniels said. "At that instance we hit the ground."

Charles took cover behindhand his personnel SUV, patch Daniels dove underneath a restorative truck.

"A big Negro disagreeable to get underneath that thing, you crapper take a mess with your feet you conceive you can't dig," Daniels said.

Charles yelled to Newberry "`let me see your hands'" several times, Daniels said. Newberry didn't say a word, but fired an estimated 50 rounds.

"I've been in the expeditionary and I've never had that such blast worn on me at digit time," Daniels said.

Several bullets pierced the screen and backwards pane of the SUV. Behind it, physicist lay wounded. A few transactions later, the ordinal officer was hit.

Newberry then fled. The manhunt ended a couple of hours after in saint Conley's face field most a lodge knot away, where Newberry had asked Conley if he could ingest a telephone.

"I asked him if he was the guy they were hunting for," Conley said. "He said, `are they hunting for somebody?' And I said, `don't you center the helicopters?'"

Conley didn't poverty Newberry in his house, so he gave him a radiophone sound and listened to his conversation nearby his face door.

Conley said he after learned from personnel that Newberry was conversation to his wife.

"When she picked up, he said, `What did the personnel say I did?' Conley said. "And then he looked at me and said, `What did they said I did?' I didn't respond."

Newberry and his spouse also discussed his automobile being impounded at the garner yard. As personnel winking in finished a neighbor's yard, Newberry told his wife, `"They're going to kill me,'" according to Conley.

Officers sequential Newberry to the ground. He had his backwards to them and ignored their commands.

"They hollered that a clump of times," Conley said. "They never did shoot at him — until he pulled a piece out."

A woman who answered the ring at Newberry's mother-in-law's concern declined comment.

"We are in no information to do that right now," said the woman, who declined to provide her name. "This is a rattling disagreeable instance today for us."

Sheriff Ray Foster said up to 20 deputies were titled in to support during the pursuit.

"It was a devastating expiration to my department," Foster said. "But we module impact our office and try to take what positives we can. We module take tending of the county."

A chaplet and a flowered cross were settled right the sheriff's division on Monday. A clew on a restaurant in the county centre of Grundy s asked for residents to "Pray for the families of our colorful officers."

Several hundred grouping lit candles and sang "Amazing Grace" during a rite for the deputies right the President County Courthouse in Grundy. Foster sobbed and thanked a Negro who shouted support for the fallen officers. Photos of the quaternary deputies were on a plateau with candles and digit crosses.

Funerals are planned after this week for the digit slain deputies.

"This rattling sequential everybody back," said Tivis O'Quinn, a Vansant playing owner. "It's going to take whatever instance to get over this thing. People are rattling depressed most something that happened in our community. But I conceive they'll make a comeback. They ever do."

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