THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 25, 1995 TAG: 9510250450
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COLINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
A 38-year-old construction worker was critically wounded Monday night after a cookout turned violent. A 34-year-old friend of the victim was charged in the shooting.
Tommy Underwood, a native of Christiansburg, Va., was shot in the head with a .22-caliber weapon about 5:45 p.m. He was taken to Outer Banks Medical Center, and later transferred to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
Underwood underwent surgery, and was in critical condition late Tuesday.
Sammy Pleasant Bowles Jr., 34, of Colington was arrested shortly after 10 p.m. at a Colington house. Bowles left the scene shortly after the shooting and was arrested when officers were tipped about his whereabouts. He was taken into custody without incident.
Bowles is charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. He is being held in the Dare County Detention Center on $25,000 bond.
State Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Donnie Varnell said officers are still trying to determine what led to the shooting.
``This was not a full-blown argument,'' said Varnell, who along with Dare County Investigator Doug Doughtie is heading the investigation. ``We're not treating this as an accidental shooting.''
Underwood and Bowles were part of a group of about six people who were at a barbecue in the yard of a small mobile home where Underwood sometimes stayed. Roasted pork was still sitting on a nearby grill Tuesday as SBI agents with metal detectors combed a grove of live-oak trees around the trailer searching for the murder weapon.
Empty chairs encircled the charred remnants of the fire.
The fire was still smoldering Monday night when authorities arrived. Beer cans and cartons were also nearby, but authorities are still trying to determine if drugs or alcohol played a role in the incident.
Varnell said that they were not notified of the shooting until nearly an hour after it occurred, when personnel at Outer Banks Medical Center called officers. Nearly five hours after the shooting, a tip from a citizen led police to Bowles.
``Some of the people at the scene took Mr. Underwood to Outer Banks Medical Center,'' said Varnell. ``None of the people at the scene made an effort to contact the police.''
No charges were anticipated against any of the others at the barbecue, Doughtie said.
``There are a lot of loose ends we need to tie up,'' said Varnell.
Officers from the Kill Devil Hills Police Department and the National Park Service assisted investigators. The shooting occurred on Colington Road about 300 yards west of the Kill Devil Hills town limits. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
DREW C. WILSON
The Virginian-Pilot
Sam Pledger of the Dare County Sheriff's Department searches around
a Colington residence for the gun used in the shooting.
KEYWORDS: ARREST SHOOTING INJURIES by CNB