The Shadow
Marshall Dale Meadows, 60, of Iron Gate, pled guilty to 9 counts of attempted
capital murder of a law enforcement officer and 5 counts of using a firearm in the
commission of attempted capital murder in an incident in Iron Gate in March, 2019.
Meadows was found guilty of the 14
felonies in the Alleghany County Circuit Court on Tuesday, July 14, 2020.
He will
face a possible maximum of 9 life sentences plus a mandatory 15 years when he is
sentenced in November.
Alleghany County Commonwealth’s Attorney, Ann Gardner summarized the
evidence in court.
According to the summary, on March 20, 2019, officers
received multiple “shots fired” calls from citizens in the town of Iron Gate.
When
they responded to 802 Commerce Avenue shortly after 9:30 p.m. officers were
met with gunfire coming from inside the home.
Meadows, drinking and angry,
fired multiple weapons, including a 12 gauge shotgun, a .30-06 rifle and a .22
magnum rifle, toward officers, barely missing some of them, as they ducked for
cover behind trees and vehicles.
Victims of the shooting included law
enforcement officers from the Alleghany County Sheriff’s Office, the Clifton Forge
Police Department and the Virginia State Police.
The Alleghany County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Response Team responded to
the scene as well as the BearCat armored vehicle from Botetourt County.
After a
nearly two hour standoff, Alleghany County Sheriff’s deputy, Captain Steve
Thrasher, with the help of Sgt. Chris Fisher, was able to negotiate with Meadows
and convince him to surrender.
No officers were injured in the shooting;
however, multiple vehicles were damaged by gunfire.
Despite receiving repeated
gunfire from Meadows, officers never discharged their weapons or returned fire.
