CROSS LANES, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A homeowner in Kanawha County shot one man after he was caught breaking into his building. The homeowner also detained a female intruder who was trying to escape.
According to a press release from the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, on Friday, May 19, 2023, just after 11:00 AM, Kanawha Deputies were dispatched to investigate a breaking and entering incident on Indianola Drive in the Cross Lanes area.
Metro 911 dispatchers took a call from the homeowner on Indianola Drive who told dispatchers that he caught a male inside his building. The victim claimed to have shot at the male suspect before he fled the scene towards Big Tyler Road, and he had a female suspect held at gunpoint waiting for deputies.
Multiple Kanawha County Deputies arrived in the area where they found the female being detained by the homeowner. The male suspect was also located by deputies just a short distance away on Big Tyler Road with a gunshot injury to his leg. The male was immediately transported to CAMC General Hospital for treatment.
Investigators with Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigative Section responded to the scene and detectives concluded that the male had illegally broken into the victim’s building and when the victim arrived home, he located him inside. As the victim opened the building door, the suspect went out of sight inside the building and the victim then retrieved a firearm from his vehicle.
As the victim returned to the building, he presumed the male would try to exit out of the backside of the building. As he went around the back, he located the female suspect who was trying to flee into the woods. The male suspect was exiting the building and startled the victim who then fired a single shot from a shotgun into the ground.
Pellets from fired round stuck the male suspect and he fled into the woods towards Big Tyler Road. The female was held at gunpoint until deputies arrived.
While on the scene, deputies were notified by a neighbor of a suspicious vehicle parked in the area. It was determined the vehicle belonged to the female suspect and not only contained evidence of this crime but possibly contains evidence of additional crimes.
The vehicle has been impounded and will be processed by forensic investigators.
The victim, in this case, was also victimized yesterday and reported a separate breaking and entering to deputies. It is uncertain at this time if the two incidents are connected; however, deputies are looking into all recent thefts around the area to determine if these suspects could be involved in other crimes.
The female suspect, identified as Taylor Danielle Edwards, 35 years old of Cross Lanes was placed under arrest for breaking and entering a building. The male suspect has been identified as Joshua Paul Shiltz, 28 years old of Cross Lanes. Shiltz is currently in stable condition at CAMC General Hospital and charges will be filed against him for breaking and entering a building upon his release.
Taylor Edwards is currently at South Central Regional Jail on a $25,000 bond.
If anyone has any information or video surveillance from the surrounding area that could be helpful to investigators, please contact the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Section.
The KCSO says that the suspects, in this case, shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
