MORGANTOWN,W.Va. — Two men were arrested in connection with a shooting at the Morgantown Motel that sent one person to the hospital early Wednesday morning.
Monongalia County Sheriff Perry Palmer said the victim, a juvenile woman, was grazed in the chest and taken to J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital for treatment of the non-life threatening injury.
Nicholas Andrew Curtis, 27, of Morgantown and Janson A. Davenport, 21, of Greenville, North Carolina, were both arrested and charged with armed robbery and conspiracy. Davenport is also charged with wanton endangerment.
They were arrested at a home in South Park by the Morgantown Police Department, which used a K9 to track the men, Palmer said.
Both men were arraigned in Monongalia County Magistrate Court, where bond was set at $100,000 each.
The story is updated with information about the two men arrested https://t.co/B2u6hXA0fe
— William Dean (@WillDean_DP) June 26, 2019
Detectives were interviewing witnesses “as we speak,” Palmer told The Dominion Post on Wednesday morning, a few hours before arresting Curtis and Davenport.
He said deputies were dispatched to the motel just after 1 a.m. Five shots were reported and items were stolen from a room. The shooters were gone when deputies arrived.
Jason Jones, a motel maintenance employee, said he was called by a manger following the incident and watched the shooting and events leading up to it on the motel’s security cameras.
He said three men, two white and one black, knocked on the door of Room 37 and when the four occupants opened the door, went inside for two or three minutes while the third man hid around the corner. He said the third man appeared to be getting antsy while the others were inside.
Jones said it appeared to be a robbery gone bad, according to the police.
As the men were fleeing, the black man, described by Jones as about 6-feet-3-inches tall, turned around and shot into the room. He said the bullets went through the room’s TV and “several walls.” Jones also told The Dominion Post the victim was a woman who was grazed by a bullet on her chest.
The men then took off towards GetGo, or north on Grafton Road, Jones said. Police brought dogs to the scene and searched for the weapon but were unable to find it. He said it appeared to be a .45 caliber, according to police.
Jones said the motel was cooperating with police and had nothing to hide.
The shooting is not related to an attempted break in at the motel Sunday, Chief Deputy Al Kisner said.
The Morgantown Police Department also responded.
Palmer said no more information will be released as the incident is still under investigation. He did not confirm any of the details provided by Jones, except the gender and injury of the victim.
Story by Will Dean, The Dominion Post