Interstate 64 shootings: A Day of Fear

A 12:10 a.m. phone call to police from a motorist reporting shooting on Interstate 64 began the two-day crisis that gripped Augusta and Albemarle counties last week and left shaken area residents searching for answers.

Helicopters buzzed overhead as squads of rifle-toting investigators and K-9 units scoured the area surrounding the shutdown interstate during the hours after the March 27 shootings, which slightly injured two motorists. By 7:00 a.m., the highway was reopened, but police warned drivers to be cautious — the culprits were probably still in the area, they said.

By mid-morning, police confirmed three specific locations where shots had been fired along the highway. Later in the day, details emerged about two other early morning shooting incidents in Waynesboro under investigation for possible links to the I-64 attacks. As the afternoon progressed, rumors of shootings in Waynesboro stores and restaurants abounded as residents struggled to separate factual reports from unfounded fears.

Early Friday morning, a raid on Yonder Hill Farm in Crozet — during which police shot Edgar Dawson, 38 — resulted in the arrest of 19-year-old Slade Woodson in connection with the previous day's shootings.   That afternoon, a 16-year-old juvenile was also arrested.

With suspects in custody, life for area residents regained the semblance of normalcy, though the shock and confusion remained.

May 27

<li><a href="http://www.newsvirginian.com/servlet/Satellite-pagename=WNV/MGArticle/WNV_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173355108809&path=%21news%21localnews< /SPAN>" target="blank">Reports of shootings close I-64< /SPAN> .</a></li>