Surveillance picture could lead to I-77 shooting suspects

State Police have stepped up patrols on a section of Interstate 77 after random shootings. It happened along a stretch of interstate on Fancy Gap Mountain in Carroll County- not far from the North Carolina border.

Near mile marker seven in the southbound lanes, the interstate is tough enough for truckers. It’s downhill for several miles and runaway truck ramps are along the side of the road.  Now, State Police are looking for suspects who created even more deadly obstacles for three drivers, moving up beside the trucks, turning off the headlights, and shooting at the drivers.

“They definitely had some malicious intent when they were doing this to avoid being detected when they were coming down the road with the lights off,” said Sgt. Mike Musser with Virginia State Police.

Police say one round each was fired into the three trucks, hitting two of the cabs and the trailer on the third truck. They believe it was a large caliber gun. Because it was dark, the truckers couldn’t see the suspects, but they did catch a glimpse of the car. 

Witnesses say the car is a light brown or gold Plymouth from the 1990s. Now, police believe they may have a picture of the car from a surveillance camera. That’s because a vehicle of that description stopped to get gas near mile marker eight within the same time frame and within a few miles of the shootings.

Police want to catch the suspects before it happens again.

“If they do it once and three vehicles are involved, it’s quite possible it could happen again,” said Sgt. Musser.

Musser said police around the region are keeping their eyes open since the car could have kept going south, maybe into North Carolina.

Police say there could have been two or three people in the car. They could face charges of attempted murder and charges of shooting into an occupied vehicle. At this point, police aren’t sure what the suspects look like or if they’re from this area.

As for the truck drivers, police say they were driving from outside the area.