surferonthecrystalcoast
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- Joined
- Feb 25, 2004
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Please keep this fellow Trooper's family in your thoughts and prayers.....
Waynesville – A Florida man faces first-degree murder charges this morning in the shooting death of a N.C. Highway Patrol trooper Tuesday night on Interstate 40.
Haywood County sheriff’s deputies and Canton police apprehended Edwardo Wong II, 37, of Ormond Beach, Fla., at Scruggs Circle in Canton, off Newfound Road, after spotting his vehicle on the road near the shooting scene.
Wong is accused of shooting Trooper David Shawn Blanton Jr. twice after Blanton pulled over Wong's pickup truck near Exit 31 on I-40 for a traffic violation.
"He (Wong), without any regard for human life at all, shot Trooper Blanton on the side of the road, and he died as a result of that," said Lt. Everett Clendinin with the Highway Patrol in Raleigh.
Wong is being held at the Haywood County Detention Center without bond. He is scheduled to make an initial court appearance in Waynesville at 2 p.m.
Blanton reported stopping Wong’s 1996 GMC pickup truck at 10:20 p.m. He got Wong out of the vehicle, and an altercation ensued. Wong shot Blanton twice, once in the shoulder, and another bullet grazed his wrist, authorities said.
Emergency dispatchers received a "barrage" of 911 calls around 10:24 p.m. Deputies and police officers took Wong into custody within 20 minutes of the calls, locating his vehicle based on callers’ descriptions, Haywood County Sheriff Tom Alexander said.
Alexander said deputies on the scene reported being shot at, but they did not fire shots, and his office is still trying to confirm if the suspect fired on officers before his arrest.
Blanton was taken to Mission Hospitals, where he later died.
Investigators recovered three weapons from Wong, including Blanton’s service handgun. They will be conducting ballistics tests to determine which gun killed Blanton.
Clendinin said Wong lingered at the shooting scene, nonchalantly searching over Blanton’s person before fleeing.
"The whole thing is just a sickening act," he said.
Clendinin said investigators also discovered narcotics in Wong’s vehicle.
Wong has a lengthy criminal history in Florida, including convictions for assaulting a law enforcement officer, felony drug violations, felony possession of firearms and others dating to 1994, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
Blanton, 24, of Cherokee, was a two-year veteran of the patrol. He was married and had a 2-week-old child.
Waynesville – A Florida man faces first-degree murder charges this morning in the shooting death of a N.C. Highway Patrol trooper Tuesday night on Interstate 40.
Haywood County sheriff’s deputies and Canton police apprehended Edwardo Wong II, 37, of Ormond Beach, Fla., at Scruggs Circle in Canton, off Newfound Road, after spotting his vehicle on the road near the shooting scene.
Wong is accused of shooting Trooper David Shawn Blanton Jr. twice after Blanton pulled over Wong's pickup truck near Exit 31 on I-40 for a traffic violation.
"He (Wong), without any regard for human life at all, shot Trooper Blanton on the side of the road, and he died as a result of that," said Lt. Everett Clendinin with the Highway Patrol in Raleigh.
Wong is being held at the Haywood County Detention Center without bond. He is scheduled to make an initial court appearance in Waynesville at 2 p.m.
Blanton reported stopping Wong’s 1996 GMC pickup truck at 10:20 p.m. He got Wong out of the vehicle, and an altercation ensued. Wong shot Blanton twice, once in the shoulder, and another bullet grazed his wrist, authorities said.
Emergency dispatchers received a "barrage" of 911 calls around 10:24 p.m. Deputies and police officers took Wong into custody within 20 minutes of the calls, locating his vehicle based on callers’ descriptions, Haywood County Sheriff Tom Alexander said.
Alexander said deputies on the scene reported being shot at, but they did not fire shots, and his office is still trying to confirm if the suspect fired on officers before his arrest.
Blanton was taken to Mission Hospitals, where he later died.
Investigators recovered three weapons from Wong, including Blanton’s service handgun. They will be conducting ballistics tests to determine which gun killed Blanton.
Clendinin said Wong lingered at the shooting scene, nonchalantly searching over Blanton’s person before fleeing.
"The whole thing is just a sickening act," he said.
Clendinin said investigators also discovered narcotics in Wong’s vehicle.
Wong has a lengthy criminal history in Florida, including convictions for assaulting a law enforcement officer, felony drug violations, felony possession of firearms and others dating to 1994, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
Blanton, 24, of Cherokee, was a two-year veteran of the patrol. He was married and had a 2-week-old child.
