Story by Chris Lawrence, MetroNews
BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — A pair of domestic incidents in Upshur County Wednesday night escalated into gunfire.
The first shooting happened in the area of Rock Cave, W.Va. State Police said Maxwell Lanham had fired a 12 gauge shotgun at his wife during an argument. According to troopers, the wife and a teenage daughter fled the home, but their 15 year old son remained in the house.
State Police say the teen armed himself with a 20-gauge shotgun and retreated to the upstairs of the home. Troopers indicated Lanham himself went upstairs and took aim at his teenage son. Troopers said the 15 year old responded by firing a single shotgun blast to Lanham’s chest and killed him instantly.
The investigation is ongoing. So far no charges have been filed and the case will be presented to the Upshur County Prosecutor to determine if charges are warranted.
Meanwhile, Upshur County Sheriff Mike Coffman said he and deputies responded to the Rock Cave shooting, but were called away by a second call to 911 of another unrelated shooting at a residence just outside Buckhannon.
“It was a daughter’s father and her boyfriend. It was a domestic case between the two of them and the father ended up getting pulled into it,” said Coffman.
According to Coffman, both the father and the boyfriend were both shot. The father was treated and released for his wounds at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Buckhannon. The boyfriend was also treated there, but flown by HealthNet to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown and remains in critical condition.
Charges are pending in both incidents and no names have been released. The two incidents were not related, but coincidentally occurred almost simultaneously.
It marks an unusual string of violence in the region. Coffman said two men are in custody for another shooting incident in Buckhannon from earlier this week. Nobody was hit in that shooting. Last Friday, the Upshur County Sheriff’s Department also provided assistance to the neighboring Barbour County Sheriff’s Department and Philippi Police in a manhunt for a shooting suspect in a murder near the Philippi Covered Bridge.
“One of my officers said he’s worked five days and been involved with four shootings,” said Coffman.