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Fincham |
BY KEITH EPPS
A man accused of firing shots in a Culpeper parking lot was apprehended in Fredericksburg yesterday following a lengthy standoff.
Matthew Wade Fincham, 23, was finally taken into custody shortly before 7 a.m. after police set off tear gas in a room at Dunning Mills Inn where Fincham had barricaded himself, police said.
He is charged in Culpeper with six offenses, including aggravated assault with a weapon, possessing a firearm as a felon and shooting from a vehicle.
Culpeper town police had been looking for Fincham since July 10, when he was accused of shooting at another man in the Westside Grocery parking lot.
The shots came during an argument between Fincham and another man and were
No one was hit, and the suspect, whose last known address was in Culpeper, left on foot.
City police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe said someone recognized Fincham at the inn at 2305 Jefferson Davis Highway and called city police about midnight.
Two officers went there and spotted Fincham in the parking lot. Fincham rushed into a room when he saw the officers, Bledsoe said.
Police said Fincham closed the door and pushed something, presumably furniture, against it. He then ignored police for about two hours; his girlfriend was in the room with him.
Bledsoe said police tried calling the room, using a loudspeaker and even throwing a mobile phone into the room in an attempt to speak with Fincham over the seven-hour ordeal, but he never said a word.
The city's Special Equipment Tactical team was brought to the scene, along with its crisis negotiating team.
Nearby residents were advised of the situation and urged to stay in their rooms, Bledsoe said.
Finally, police threw a tear gas canister through a window and the suspect and his girlfriend came outside immediately. Fincham was taken into custody without incident, and the woman was released.
Fincham is also charged in Culpeper with two counts of brandishing a firearm and violating parole.
Keith Epps: 540/374-5404
Email: kepps@freelancestar.com
