BRAXTON MAN KILLS SELF IN STANDOFF - Wanted For Several Offenses

(07/18/2003)

A Braxton County man apparently shot himself to death during a standoff with police at a residence in Falls Mill, Braxton County. James Russell Leake, 29, of Heaters died of a gunshot wound to the temple Wednesday evening at the residence of a friend, according to Braxton County Assistant Prosecutor Daniel Dotson. Police went to the residence to arrest Leake on several charges, following an anonymous tip. "The officers had secured the perimeter and were attempting to exchange him in dialogue," Dotson said. "He didn't respond and three shots rang out." The first two shots hit the wall and ceiling. The third struck him in the temple, according to Dotson. Dotson said several deputies from the Braxton County Sheriff's Department responded, but by the end of the standoff just about every officer in the area was at the scene. Leake, who had earlier fled from police, was charged last month by the sheriff's department with second-degree sexual assault of a minor. He was also charged with tampering with a witness for allegedly "making contact personally and through third parties with the victim of the sexual assault of a minor charge," according to Dotson. The body is being sent to the state medical examiner's office.

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