Branscome captured in Texas
Doug Thompson April 6, 2008 - 5:41am.
Steven Dale Branscome (right), wanted for shooting a Virignia State Trooper, has been captured in Texas -- hundreds of miles away from the most intensive manhunt in the history of Floyd County.
His capture brings to an end a weeklong saga of roadblocks, house-to-house searches and stories of local residents terrorized by some Virginia State Police tactical team members wearing fatiques and carrying automatic weapons. At one point, close to 400 police officers from 16 different agencies were deployed in Floyd County in a search for a fugitive who, as it turns out, was long gone.
UPDATE: Virginia State Police released the following statement at a press conference this afternoon at the Floyd County Courthouse:
The multi-agency, multi-state search for a Southwest Virginia man accused of shooting a Virginia State Police trooper March 28, 2008, is over. Steven Dale Branscome, 32, was apprehended Sunday morning (April 6, 2008) following a brief standoff at a Texas hotel.
A U.S. Marshal’s Service SWAT Team took Branscome into custody at approximately 12:40 a.m., central time, at a hotel in New Boston, Texas. Through the use of advanced tracking methods, investigators were able to locate Branscome in the New Boston area. As the SWAT Team made entry, Branscome at first refused to cooperate and then surrendered without incident a short time later. Branscome is being held at the Bowie County, Texas Jail pending extradition.
A 1999 Chevrolet passenger van stolen from a Statesville, N.C., church on Wednesday (April 2, 2008) was also recovered in the hotel parking lot. New Boston is located in northeast Texas near the city of Texarkana.
“This is the safe resolution that we were hoping for,” said Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, Virginia State Police Superintendent. “By increasing police presence in the Floyd County area, we were able to force Branscome out into the open and away from the support network that enabled him to elude investigators for the past week.”
“The Virginia State Police wish to express our sincere appreciation to those citizens in Floyd County who provided us with assistance and information during the course of the investigation. We are also most grateful to the U.S. Marshal’s Service, Floyd County Sheriff’s Office, West Virginia State Police and the multitude of local police and deputy sheriffs that aided us in this extensive search and investigation,” continued Col. Flaherty.
Branscome will face numerous charges in Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina, including grand larceny for at least four auto thefts. In West Virginia, Branscome already faces charges of malicious wounding and wanton endangerment in relation to the shooting of a Virginia State Police Trooper.
Police have been searching for Branscome since the Virginia State Police trooper was shot Friday afternoon (March 28, 2008) just inside West Virginia, across from the Giles County, Va. line. Trooper R.W. Hughes was shot in the neck while pursuing Branscome on foot following a short vehicle pursuit near the Glen Lyn community in Giles County. The trooper was not seriously injured and has returned to work.
LOL
Let me see if I have this straight. I have been delayed by dozens of road blocks, been asked to produce identification at least 10 times and had to wade through an army of cops just to get to the bank by the courthouse and this yo-yo was out of the county and headed for Texas?
I'd be laughing more but I realize the bill will soon come due and we, as taypayers, will have to pay it. Thank you Doug for keeping us on top of this situation and for being a voice of reason in a wilderness of hysteria.
Thank goodness
Maybe things can get back to normal around here, or at least as close to normal as things can be in our "hick" town filled with all us country bumpkins with low IQs.
Peace and quiet again in Floyd
I'm sure that you and just about everyone else are glad to have your peace and quiet back again. I can only imagine that this must have been an upsetting situation to deal with.
Like having your whole life turned upside down, for a period of time. But there's always a good side, and maybe that good side will be how much more everyone will appreciate the normal way of life in Floyd, after all the interruption. Enjoy your peace and quite!
Post-mortems
I wonder if Branscome was headed for Mexico. Makes sense if he vowed to never go back to jail.
Doug, I know you have caught heat for daring criticize the massive police presence that has been part of our lives for the past week but I'm one Floyd County resident who appreciates your efforts to keep us informed and for raising an issue that needs to be discussed.
I saw roadblocks in Floyd as late as yesterday even though the evidence suggested he was on the run far away from the county. We need to know who made the decision to expend all this manpower and show of force as well as the final cost to those of us who pay the cost through our taxes.
I understand a desire to get someone who shot one of their own. I have no sympathy for someone who shoots a police officer but there has to be a measured response to such situations. This one, I feel, crossed way over the line.
branscome
I would like to know if branscome was caught safty without any shots fired like in the beginning
A-hole bransome
I'd like to thank all the VA police for a job well done. They kept all us local folks safe by their presence on each and every back road in Floyd County. That's no easy feat.
Put blame on the A-hole who deserves it.
Lot Of Complaining/Not Enough Counting
Your Blessings that is. The last I heard was Trooper Hughes was the only one that was injured in this ordeal. Be Glad that you and your family are healthy today! I'm reading alot of comments about "who's going to pay for it." I personally don't think that you are going to notice a big difference in your taxes because of this incident. That's one reason why we pay taxes anyway. But as far as I'm concerned, (if that were the case,) it would be worth(to me) paying a few more dollars in taxes per year if it meant that my family was kept safe while an armed and dangerous man ran through my neighborhood stealing vehicles and what ever else he may have took.(Like the 3-4 thousand dollars worth of valuables he stoled from my parents house!!) We all need to count our blessings and quit complaining about what may or may not happen! Things could have been a whole lot worse.
I have to question the
I have to question the notion that we were safer here in the county because of the increased presence of all those officers carrying automatic weapons. Branscome, it appears was on his way out of state at the beginning to last week. He took the truck from Indian Valley and drove to Statesville before dumping the truck and heading west in North Carolina and dumping the truck and stealing a church van in Ashe County. You don't make it from North Carolina to Texas overnight so the State Police claims of forcing Branscome out of the county because of the overwhelming police presence throughout the week is nothing but spin.
The State Police blew this one, wasting a lot of time and effort and creating a situation that apparently angered some local residents who felt more threatened by the officers than by Branscome.
This was not the State Police's finest hour. Rather than offering spin at a press conference they should admit their mistakes and pledge to learn from them.
I am so thankful for all of
I am so thankful for all of the police officers. These people risk their lives for us while working bad hours for low pay. We should expect a little inconvenience during a manhunt. Those critical of law enforcement in the handling of this matter are ignorant of the big picture. Remember, he was apprehended and none of the general public was injured. We should appreciate the way things were handled.
He was apprehended in Texas,
He was apprehended in Texas, not Floyd County. The boys here with all their armored cars, helicopters and roadblocks didn't have a clue where he was. While they were playing cops and robbers he was on his way to the Lone Star State.