LEWISBURG, W.Va. — (AP) Two West Virginia police officers wounded in a New Year's Day shootout with a pair of murder suspects have been released from the hospital and are eager to get back to work, their boss said Saturday.
Lewisburg Police Chief Tim Stover said Lt. Jeromy Dove, a 16-year veteran of the force, and rookie Patrolman Nicholas Sams were released Friday and are doing well. He said they will have psychological evaluations and could return to duty in about a week.
IMAGES: Bodies of 2 NC victims found in truck after W. Va. police shootout
Police said Dove, 36, and Sams., 20, were wounded after pulling over an SUV that had a North Carolina license plate showing it had been stolen. A truck also pulled over, and the driver opened fire. The officers returned fire, wounding the truck driver. Both drivers fled but were soon apprehended. Officers found two bodies under a mattress in the truck bed.
According to police, a father and son from Texas — Edward Campbell, 54, and Eric Campbell, 21 — will be charged in West Virginia with malicious assault and attempted murder of a police officer. Stover said Eric Campbell is being held in a Beckley jail and his father, who was driving the truck and was shot in the leg, remains in a Charleston hospital. He did not know Edward Campbell's condition.
Stover said a preliminary hearing will be scheduled within 10 days of the suspects' arrest.
The men also are suspects in the deaths of the two people found in the truck. Granville County, North Carolina, Sheriff Brindell B. Wilkins Jr. told Raleigh TV station WRAL that the victims were Jerome Faulkner, 73, and his wife, Dora Faulkner, 62. He said he believes the Campbells burst into the couple's home near Oxford on Thursday morning, set the house on fire and took the couple and their SUV. Wilkins said the motive wasn't clear.
Stover said authorities from North Carolina came to West Virginia on Friday, but he had no details.
The chief said his department and West Virginia State Police will both investigate the shooting by his officers but added: "I think they did everything textbook."
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