
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 11, 1991                   TAG: 9103110168
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Ron Brown
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

MAN SHOT IN SHOULDER IN ROANOKE

A 29-year-old Roanoke man was shot in the shoulder Friday after he hit the arm of a gunman who had a pistol pointed toward his face, city police said.

John Robin Burnette of Northwest Roanoke was shot after the man approached him on Courtland Road about 9:30 p.m.

He told police that his assailant had pointed the pistol at him and called him a racial name before he struck the man's arm and the gun discharged.

Burnette heard two more shots fired as he fled. He was taken to Roanoke Memorial Hospital for treatment.

City police and firefighters on Sunday night also reported the following weekend incidents:

A gunman walked up to the counter of 581 Amoco Food Shop on Elm Avenue shortly before midnight Friday with $5 and a six-pack of beer. He left with a bag of cash after pointing a silver revolver at the clerk.

Thomas J. Barlow, 39, of Northwest Roanoke, was stabbed at a vacant house on Orange Avenue Northwest Friday night. Barlow, who suffered a deep cut in his upper leg, told police he only knows his assailant's first name.

The attic of a vacant house on Loudon Avenue Northwest burned Sunday morning after a mattress was set on fire. District Fire Chief James A. Patton said authorities suspect arson because the house was unoccupied and without electricity.

Patton said someone tried to steal kerosene from the house on Saturday, but ran when neighbors called police.

by CNB