Two men accused in a July shooting at a busy Winchester Sheetz that injured one person were arrested Thursday in West Virginia.
Hausaun Salem Amen Richardson, 20, and Malakie Antwon Scott, 18, both of Hagerstown, Maryland, were apprehended following a multi-agency raid at a home in Falling Waters, according to a media release from the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office. They were taken into custody without incident.
Malakie A. Scott
The pair are accused of opening fire on a vehicle in the parking lot of the Sheetz located at 601 Millwood Ave. on July 29 before quickly fleeing the scene. The alleged victim, an adult male, according to police, suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
Hausaun Richardson
Police identified Richardson and Scott days later using security footage from the convenience store.
According to the release, United States marshals with the Capital Area Regional Task Force (CARTF) last week informed law enforcement officials that the alleged shooters were hiding out in the area of Falling Waters, about 30 minutes north of Winchester. Authorities obtained search warrants for two addresses where they believed the pair might be.
On Thursday, the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, along with the Jefferson County, West Virginia, SWAT Team and U.S. Marshals Mountain State Fugitive Task Force, executed a “coordinated operation” and arrested Richardson and Scott at one of the residences.
“This operation highlights the exceptional level of training, coordination, and discipline our SWAT team demonstrates on every mission. Their ability to execute high-risk operations safely and effectively is a reflection of the countless hours they dedicate to preparation and readiness,” Berkeley County Sheriff Rob Blair stated in the release. “I also want to thank our law enforcement partners for their cooperation in bringing these dangerous suspects into custody without incident.”
Richardson and Scott are being held at the Eastern Regional Jail outside of Martinsburg, West Virginia.
The July shooting sent customers at the Sheetz store scrambling for cover, including children.
According to a search warrant affidavit filed the day after the incident, surveillance footage showed the suspects pulling their SUV alongside the alleged victim’s white sedan as it waited at a traffic light exiting Sheetz onto South Pleasant Valley Road. Two men with dreadlocks exited the SUV and immediately opened fire into the driver’s side of the sedan.
After the barrage, the sedan reversed into a parked minivan before speeding away through the parking lot, turning onto Millwood Avenue, and continuing north on South Pleasant Valley Road. About a mile away, the car crashed near the intersection of Woodstock Lane. Officers arriving at the scene found the alleged victim with gunshot wounds to his chest and a passenger who was uninjured.
Winchester police told The Winchester Star the following day that the injured man was in stable condition.
The passenger told police he had picked up the victim around 6 p.m. while delivering for DoorDash, according to the affidavit. He said the two were at Sheetz when they heard a loud “boom” and ducked before driving away. The victim began losing consciousness and crashed shortly afterward, the passenger told investigators.
At the Sheetz scene, investigators recovered a blue iPhone believed to belong to one of the suspects. The phone’s lock screen featured a photo of individuals matching the gunmen seen in surveillance footage, according to the affidavit. Detectives believe the device was dropped when the suspects exited the SUV to open fire. A judge later signed a warrant granting investigators access to the phone’s contents, including calls, texts, and social media activity.
Agencies including the Winchester Police Department, Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, Winchester Sheriff’s Office, and Winchester Emergency Management responded to the scene. Shell casings were scattered across the parking lot, and a red van belonging to a Sheetz assistant manager, Enrique Meza, was struck by the victim’s sedan as it backed up during the attack.
Meza, who reviewed surveillance footage with officers, said the shooting unfolded within seconds of the suspects pulling in. “The passenger in the big Honda came out, had his gun pulled or drawn already, and started shooting,” he said.
Other witnesses said one of the shooters chased the victim’s vehicle on foot while firing.
“The younger guy was chasing a car and just kept shooting the whole time,” a Sheetz employee told The Winchester Star shortly after the incident. “It was just crazy. Everybody was ducking.”
Roughly 20 to 30 people were at the store when the shooting occurred, some of them children. Michele Beatty, who was inside Sheetz at the time, described the experience as terrifying. “That is the most horrifying thing that you can go through… not knowing,” she said.
