UPDATE: WV KNIFE AND GUN CLUB - A Bloody New Years

(01/02/2021)
SON MURDERS PARENTS WITH AXE - A Kanawha County man may have used an ax to kill his parents.

Kanawha County Sheriff Mike Rutherford says an ax was found at the murder scene by detectives investigating the Thursday deaths of Tsukasa and Claudette Kambara.

The couple’s son, Takanao Kambara, 26, has been charged with two counts of first degree murder. The three lived together at 1777 Kanawha State Forest Drive in the Loudendale community.

Rutherford said deputies have been to a home near Kanawha State Forest before on domestic calls prior to Thursday’s double murder there.

Kambara was piling up artistic paintings across the road from the home when a deputy arrived on the scene Thursday morning. He told the deputy there were two dead bodies in the house and they didn’t die naturally. Police found his parents dead of lacerations.

Kambara is being held in the South Central Regional Jail without bail.

Social media indicates the Kambara couple was well-known. Tsukasa is described as a local artist while his wife, Claudette, is said to have sold roses for years along Kanawha County highways.

The New Year’s Eve deaths brought to a close a deadly month in Kanawha County. Nine people were killed in 5 separate cases. Police have made arrests in all but one case. One of those victims was Charleston police officer Cassie Johnson who died two days after a Dec.1 shooting.

CHARLESTON MAN SHOT IN HEAD DIES - Charleston Police are investigating after a man was found shot to death early Thursday morning.

Charleston Police Lieutenant Tony Hazelett said Charles Raymond Barnes, Jr., 40, was found laying partially in the road at the intersection of Grant and Russell Streets around 12:00 a.m.

The victim had a gunshot wound to the back of the head.

During the investigation, police said that Barnes, Jr. was walking west on Grant street when the suspect ran towards the him and shot him in the back of the head.

The suspect was seen running south on Russell Street away from the scene.

Police said the suspect was wearing a black hoodie, jeans, and black tennis shoes.

MAN SHOT DEAD - Kanawha County Sheriff Mike Rutherford said 23-year-old David Rogers of Charleston has been arrested in connection with the shooting New Years morning in the Sheetz parking lot in Cross Lanes.

Rogers is charged with two counts of wanton endangerment.

Rutherford said Rogers is accused of firing a gun several times, endangering the live of bystanders while he was engaged in an altercation with others.

Caleb Marcum, 19, of Red House was shot and killed in the incident and Brent Jenkins, 23, of Scott Depot, was also shot and is in the hospital.

HUNTINGTON SHOOTING - Police are looking for a Parkersburg, West Virginia, woman in connection with a shooting early Friday morning in Huntington.

Meagan Hope Crihfield, 33, has been charged with one count of malicious or unlawful assault and five counts of wanton endangerment, according to a news release from the Huntington Police Department.

Officers determined during the investigation that a person of interest in the shooting fled the scene in a maroon Chrysler 200 and a notification to be on the lookout for the vehicle was dispatched.

Deputies in Jackson County notified Cabell County 911 about 1:45 a.m. that they had stopped a vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle and were able to obtain information from the occupants, according to the news release. No arrests were made because there wasn’t sufficient information at the time.

FIRST REPORT - Cabell County dispatchers said one person was taken to the hospital after a shooting early Friday morning in Huntington.

Huntington Police Captain Levi Livingston said police responded to a shooting call in the 800 block of 8th Street, but when they got to the scene didn't find a victim.

Livingston said they got a call from Cabell Huntington Hospital a short time later saying a gun shot victim had been dropped off.

He said 26-year-old Chayneasha Bailey was shot and is in stable condition.

BRIDGEPORT MURDER-SUICIDE - A supervisory U.S. probation officer in Bridgeport fatally shot his wife before taking his own life on New Year's Day, according to police.

Vincent T. Zummo, 47, fired shots at his wife, Kelly T. Zummo, 48, during an argument outside their home Friday morning on Horizon Circle, according to a news release from the Bridgeport Police Department. Investigators said Vincent Zummo then returned inside the home where he was later found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Law enforcement initially received a report that a vehicle fleeing the area struck a house nearby. Officers said they found Kelly Zummo dead from a gunshot wound in the driver’s seat of that vehicle.

Jon Wright, the chief U.S. probation officer for the Northern District of West Virginia, issued a statement Saturday on behalf of the court where Vincent Zummo worked.

The Bridgeport Police Department said the incident happened just after 11:30 a.m. Friday.

Before finding Vincent Zummo’s body in the home, officers issued a shelter in place for the immediate area which was later lifted.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing.