Staff writer
A Clendenin man has been charged with first-degree murder and malicious wounding, after he allegedly shot two of his neighbors Wednesday afternoon.
Randall Douglas Woods, 62, told police he fired his 9 mm pistol into a pickup truck that three of his neighbors were riding in at about 1:15 p.m.
Woods fired the pistol during an argument with neighbors Cora and David Elmore on Laurel Fork Road, according the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office.
Cora Elmore, 38, told deputies that she and David Elmore, 31, were driving on Laurel Fork Road when Woods approached their vehicle on an ATV and started "mouthing and carrying on," according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha Magistrate Court.
Cora Elmore told deputies David Elmore then sprayed Woods with bug spray. Woods responded by firing a single shot toward the truck, injuring both of them.
Woods then drove the ATV in the opposite direction and dialed 911 from his home, deputies said in a news release. Nearby neighbors also called 911, deputies said.
When deputies arrived on the scene, neighbors had removed David Elmore from the vehicle and were performing CPR. David Elmore was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Cora Elmore, who as driving the pickup truck, sustained a gunshot wound to her forearm. Deputies said she was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
A third passenger was in the rear of the pickup cab and was uninjured, police said.
Prior to the incident with the Elmores, deputies said Woods had fired a single shot at another neighbor. The neighbor was not wounded. Investigators found two 9 mm shell casings approximately 80 feet apart at the scene of both shootings, according to the criminal complaint.
Woods was arraigned in Wednesday evening magistrate court and currently is being held without bond. During his arraignment Woods told a deputy he was unaware Cora Elmore had been injured in the shooting.
This is not the first time a violent incident has erupted between Woods and the Elmore family.
In 2012, David Elmore was arrested after he allegedly attacked Woods with a metal pipe during an argument, according to a previous Gazette-Mail report.
Woods was arrested in 2011 after police said he intentionally ran his truck into an ATV driven by Joseph Elmore and then made threats against the Elmore's family, according a second Gazette-Mail report.
Woods was then charged with felony malicious wounding and wanton endangerment after Kanawha County sheriff's deputies said he ran his Chevrolet pickup into an ATV driven by Joseph Elmore of Clendenin.
Staff writer Giuseppe Sabella contributed to this report.
Reach Carlee Lammers at carlee.lammers@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1230 or follow @CarleeLammers on Twitter.