NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

INCIDENTS

Blue Ridge Parkway

Overlook Shooting Incident Now A Homicide

On April 6th, an 18-year-old woman and a 27-year-old man were watching the sunset at Rock Point overlook on the parkway near Stuart's Draft, Virginia, when they were attacked by a man with a shotgun. Both survived initially, but the man suffered critical injuries to his head and face. On Friday April 9th, T.D., 27, died of his injuries. The other victim, C.F., was released from the hospital on Thursday. The suspect - R.J. of Stuart's Draft - is being held by the state without bond. [Tim Francis, Pisgah District Ranger]

Cumberland Gap NHP

Murder Suspect Apprehended In Park

On April 8th, ranger Greg Johnston picked up a be-on-the-lookout (BOLO) message about a shooting in Middlesboro, Kentucky, and helped block potential escape routes by cutting off any possible exit via Highway 25E through the park. Johnston saw a vehicle similar to the one described in the BOLO head into the park, then turn around, and confirmed that it was the suspect vehicle after he caught up with it inside the Cumberland Gap Tunnel. Middlesboro PD advised him that the driver was armed with a shotgun and was a suspect in a shooting murder. Johnston followed the vehicle into Harrogate, Tennessee, to give backup units time to respond. When a Claiborne County deputy pulled in behind the suspect vehicle, the driver immediately pulled over on his own. Johnston took cover behind the deputy's patrol car with his rifle and awaited the arrival of other officers. The suspect - identified as R.G. of Middlesboro, Kentucky - was taken into custody without further incident. The murder weapon was found in the vehicle. Due to interagency communications issues, the deputy was not aware that R.G. was armed and wanted for the shooting at the time of the stop. R.G. was transferred to the custody of the Claiborne County Sheriff's Office and held on a warrant for murder pending extradition back to Kentucky. [Dirk Wiley, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:

National Capital Region - Director Jon Jarvis joined United States Park Police horse and motorcycle units, the National Mall and Memorial Park's cherry tree maintenance crew, and other police departments, high school bands, and cherry blossom princesses from all 50 states in this year's National Cherry Blossom Festival parade, held this past Saturday.

Delaware Water Gap NRA - For the third consecutive year, eight graduate students from universities across the United States and Canada chose Delaware Water Gap NRA as their spring break destination. Photo.

Northeast Region - Lewis Rogers has been selected as the new superintendent of Petersburg National Battlefield. Rogers, who is currently chief ranger at Valley Forge, will assume his duties in May. Photo.

To see these and other stories posted on InsideNPS (or NPS Digest, its public version), click on one or the other of the following links (please note that not all stories in the former appear in the latter):

NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index

Non-NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/

NPS serious incident submission standards can be found at the following web site: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/notify" http://inside.nps.gov/notify

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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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