BECKLEY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – One individual has been injured in an officer-involved shooting on Sunday afternoon has been transported to receive medical treatment.
According to Sheriff Jim Canaday of the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office, on October 8, 2023 at approximately 12:55PM, Raleigh County 911 received a call regarding a male brandishing a shotgun in the parking-lot of “Flipstarz” on Industrial Park Road in Beaver.
The male with the shotgun was reported by the caller to be waiting on his wife and children, and that custody situation could be occurring. West Virginia State Police and Raleigh County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched by Raleigh EOC to investigate the situation.
The male is said to have left the area in a van with his wife and children prior to the arrival of law enforcement.
Approximately 10 minutes later, a Raleigh County Deputy Sheriff reports having encountered the suspected vehicle on Clarence W. Meadows Blvd in the Beckley area. The Deputy made attempts to stop the van, but the suspect then began to flee with his wife and children still inside the vehicle.
The pursuit then continued from the area of Clarence W. Meadows Blvd onto Stanaford road, with speeds reportedly reaching points as high as 90 mph.
The suspect is then reported to have stopped his vehicle at his Stanaford Road residemce before exiting the vehicle while holding a shotgun.
The suspect was ordered by Deputies to drop the shotgun multiple times but refused. He then turned toward the Deputies with the shotgun in hand, at which point he was shot by a Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office Deputy.
After the incident, the suspect was transported to BARH and has since been flown to a Charleston Hospital with what reportedly appear to be non-life-threatening injuries.
No additional injuries were sustained as a result of the incident. Several criminal charges are said to be pending against the suspect, who has since been identified as Alan Charles Warden, 39 of Stanaford, WV.