WV KNIFE AND GUN CLUB - Arrest Made In Kanawha Sniper Case

(04/01/2011)
After 8 years, Kanawha County authorities have made an arrest in connection to a string of sniper shootings that brought terror to Kanawha Valley residents in 2003.

Shawn Thomas Lester, 35, of Charleston, has been arrested on a charge of first-degree murder in the sniper death of Jeanie Patton.

Patton was shot in the head from long range as she pumped gas at a Speedway station on Campbell's Creek Drive.

The first sniper victim, Gary Carrier, Jr., was shot and killed while standing at a pay phone at a Charleston Go-Mart, and then Okey Meadows, Jr., was shot while waiting at a pay window at a Cedar Grove Go-Mart.

The case has been under intensive investigation by a Kanawha County task force, although the case had gone cold.

Police are saying two people came forward with information that led to the arrest.

At least some of the sniper killings appear to be related to a drug deal gone bad.

Lester had been one of many suspects in the case.