Salvage yard shooting

Two sheriff's deputies were killed and two others wounded in a shooting at a salvage yard, and a suspect was killed by police after a search, in a rural corner of southwestern Virginia that saw a deadly rampage in 2002.

Buchanan County deputies investigating a report of a robbery at Roger's Service Center in Vansant on Sunday afternoon were met by gunfire from long range, Virginia State Police said. Two were hit and died at the scene. Two others also were shot later from long range as they helped set up a search perimeter, said State Police Sgt. Steve Lowe.

One deputy has life-threatening injuries and the other was in serious condition, state police said. No names were released late Sunday.

A candlelight vigil for the four officers was planned Monday evening at the Buchanan County Courthouse in Grundy, according to two Facebook pages set up in honor of the deputies.

Christina Stiltner lives across the street from the salvage yard and had just walked into her home with her 10-year-old son when she heard "pow, pow, pow."

She opened her front door and saw one deputy run into a neighbor's yard. She heard another "pow" and the deputy went down. He was one of the injured, she said.

"It scares you so much," she said. "I sat there thinking 'what's the number to 911'? It shocked me so badly, I didn't know the number to 911."

Residents said such violence is rare in the rural area of about 1,000 people, though in January 2002, a student opened fire on the Appalachian School of Law campus in Grundy just down the road from Vansant after learning he had flunked out of school.

The school's dean, a professor and a student were killed in the attack. Three other students were wounded. The shooter, Peter Odighizuwa, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.

Police did not say what sort of weapon was used, but Lowe said the suspect shot from long range. The owner of the salvage yard told police his business was being robbed and he had blocked the suspect's vehicle with his own.

State police and other officers found the suspect after a two-hour search and after "some sort of engagement" they shot and killed him, Lowe said.

"I'm not sure what the confrontation was when they encountered him," Lowe said. "Apparently he was identified as the right person."

Lowe said he didn't know if the man fired on police, or if he was armed at the time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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