Police narrow leads in deadly West Virginia sniper shootings

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Investigators have narrowed hundreds of tips to 10 solid leads in their probe of sniper shootings that killed three people outside Charleston-area convenience stores, authorities said Tuesday.

Investigators also are pursuing a possible drug link in at least two of the shootings, Kanawha County Sheriff's Department chief deputy Phil Morris said.

Interviews with Campbells Creek residents uncovered public concerns about the sale and use of methamphetamines in the unincorporated area where two of the victims lived and where one of the shootings occurred.

"We would be remiss in not mentioning the possible drug connection," Morris told reporters. "A number of people we have talked with are trying to tie this to drugs."

Morris would not say if the victims had drug ties or if one shooter was involved. He also said investigators had not determined whether the victims knew each other.

The two Campbells Creek residents, Jeanie Patton, 31, and Okey Meadows Jr., 26, were slain Thursday night. The shootings occurred 90 minutes apart at convenience stores 10 miles from each other.

Four days earlier, Gary Carrier Jr., 44, of South Charleston, was shot to death while talking on a pay phone outside a Charleston convenience store.

Campbells Creek is about 10 miles east of Charleston, and residents say drug use is on the rise.

"Pills and meth and the hard stuff has swept through here just over the last couple of years," said David Roy, of nearby Point Lick Hollow.

Before the shootings and interviews, the sheriff's department had received no complaints of people purchasing, selling and using drugs in Campbells Creek, Morris said.

Deputies returned to the community Tuesday to conduct additional door-to-door interviews.

All three shootings occurred at night from distances of 30 yards to 60 yards. Each victim was shot in the neck or head by a small caliber rifle.

Kanawha County Sheriff David Tucker said Tuesday his department was awaiting ballistics test results. The sheriff's department has not released the bullet caliber.

Tucker said investigators continue to make progress.

"We are dealing with a lot of information. We've got a little over 100 leads," Tucker said. "We have come out with 10 good leads we feel we have to follow up on."

In addition to talking to Campbells Creek residents, Tucker said investigators are following other leads in the county and "a little further out." He declined to provide specifics.

Police were looking for a dark Ford F-150 extended cab pickup. Authorities originally said the driver was a large white male, but have since said eyewitness descriptions may have been obscured because of darkness.

Meanwhile, two Kanawha County Wal-Mart stores have pulled hunt-and-shoot style video games from their shelves.

"We have not made a corporate decision to remove these games from our store shelves," company spokeswoman Melissa Berryhill said Tuesday from Bentonville, Ark. "Individual store managers can make a decision based on what they feel is right for the community."

One store is in Carrier's hometown of South Charleston. The other is in the nearby city of Nitro.

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Associated Press writer Martha Bryson Hodel in Campbells Creek contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, including wanted poster: http://www.atf.gov