A teenager was shot after confronting a man reportedly driving her stolen car during one of three unconnected gun crimes to occur in Charleston early Saturday morning, police say.
Nakalia Russell, 19, was wounded in the shooting that occurred around 4:15 a.m. on the 500 block of Nancy Street on Charleston's East End. The woman was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center General Hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening.
Lt. Steve Cooper, chief of detectives from the Charleston Police Department, said the woman noticed her stolen vehicle being driven into the neighborhood and approached the driver, who shot her in the back and struck her in the face with the pistol.
Police are looking for the alleged shooter, Dennis Keith Butler, also known as "30." Butler, of Philadelphia, is wanted for malicious wounding and wanton endangerment.
Police consider Butler to be armed and dangerous. Anyone who sees him is asked to call 911.
The shooting was one of three gun-related incidents to happen in Charleston within the span of two hours early Saturday, Cooper said.
In an unrelated incident around 3 a.m. on Elizabeth Street outside the Empty Glass bar, witnesses reported seeing a black man hold another black man at gunpoint. The victim was reportedly begging the gunman not to shoot him, Cooper said. The man escaped and shots were fired, including one that struck a vehicle. Witnesses say a white vehicle - either a Chevy Camaro or a Dodge Charger - fled the scene at a high speed toward Greenbrier Street. Police have so far not found the shooter or a victim.
In another unrelated incident, a man broke into a West Side home and fired a shot after attempting to rob a 17-year-old boy. The incident happened around 3 a.m. at 506 Buchanan Street. Police say Jamie Bumpus awoke to find a black man wearing a ski mask attempting to rob her son in the next room. The man fired a shot and then fled the scene, Cooper said.
Cooper said having three gun-related incidents occur within such a shot time is not typical.
"It's not typical at all," Cooper said. "Occasionally on a hot summer night there will be more than one incident taking place. Fortunately no one has been killed."
Reach
Lori.kersey@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1240 or follow
@LoriKerseyWV on Twitter.