Armed suspect shot in ankle
A police officer shot an armed suspect early Wednesday at West High and Morris streets in Waynesburg.
Julius Maurice Hurt is shown in a recent jail photo in West Virginia.
WAYNESBURG – A Waynesburg police officer shot a man early Wednesday in the borough after state police said the suspect pointed a gun at the officer, although a witness has a slightly different account about how the confrontation transpired.
Investigators said Waynesburg police received a report of a black man with a gun acting “unruly” while walking behind Greene County Courthouse about 1 a.m.
Borough police Officer Charles Sochor was dispatched and encountered Julius Maurice Hurt walking north on Morris Street toward High Street, state police said.
Sochor shouted at Hurt to stop, but he began running, police said. Police said Hurt then pulled a handgun from his waistband and Sochor “ordered him to drop the gun and get on the ground.” Hurt pointed it at the officer, state police wrote in court documents, and Sochor shot him once in the ankle and foot area as he was running. Investigators did not say whether Hurt was facing the officer or running away when the shooting occurred.
Hurt fell to the ground and Sochor kicked away two handguns near the suspect, police said.
The officer tried to place Hurt in handcuffs, but the suspect fought back, police said. Sochor eventually placed him in custody and other officers arrived at the scene to assist. Hurt was treated at the scene and taken to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., where his condition was not immediately known.
Aaron Delaney, an Observer-Reporter newspaper delivery driver, said he saw Hurt holding a silver handgun and acting erratically behind the courthouse while getting ready to pick up papers at the O-R’s bureau office on Church Street. After other paper carriers called police, Delaney continued on his route down High Street before seeing Hurt and the officer running across the street.
Delaney said he did not see Hurt holding a weapon as he ran across the street into a borough parking lot next to North Morris Street. However, Hurt “turned around real violently” and took off like he was running again.
“I would have taken it as a threat, absolutely,” Delaney said.
Sochor shouted at Hurt to drop the weapon and Hurt began shouting obscenities, according to Delaney. The two were at a standstill for a moment, Delaney said, but the suspect then turned around again to face the officer and threw his hand up and yelled, “don’t shoot, don’t shoot,” before turning to run away.
“That suspect got shot while he was running away,” Delaney said. “I didn’t see anything in his hand. He was throwing his hands up.”
Delaney said he was unsure if the shooting was justified or not.
“I feel like (the officer) was in the right place doing what he had to do,” Delaney said. “Maybe he saw the gun? I was across the street, but I didn’t see anything in his hand. I heard the cop say drop the weapon. He said, ‘please, don’t shoot, don’t shoot.'”
Delaney said the officer fired one time. A “scuffle” then ensued between Hurt and the officer, before other police officers arrived on scene.
Delaney said he did not see any guns in the parking lot, but officers could be heard discussing a bag of marijuana. Delaney said he gave a statement to investigators at the scene.
State police charged Hurt, 31, of 329 E. Franklin St., Waynesburg, with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, receiving stolen property, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and two counts each of carrying a firearm without a license and illegal possession of a firearm.
One handgun was reported stolen from Wetzel County, W.Va., police said. Investigators said Hurt was not permitted to possess firearms due to previous felony convictions in West Virginia for malicious wounding and drug manufacturing.
Hurt was still awaiting to be arraigned before District Judge Glenn Bates late Wednesday night.
Waynesburg police referred all questions about the shooting to state police, who are handling the investigation.
Staff writer Katie Anderson contributed to this story.