THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 22, 1995 TAG: 9512220410
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Four handguns were found in the wrecked white Mustang in which two young men tried to outrun the blue lights and screaming sirens of pursuing lawmen on U.S. 17 south of Elizabeth City.
Officers at first did not know what weapon - two .22s, a .38 and a .357 Magnum - fired the shot into the right temple of Ricky Barr, 20, of Norfolk, whose body was found jammed between the bucket seats of the car.
On Thursday, about 24 hours after Barr died and a companion was injured in the crash, Dr. Page Hudson, the area medical examiner in Greenville, finished an autopsy that seemed to settle some of the mystery.
Hudson notified Perquimans County and Pasquotank County law enforcement officials that Barr was killed by a ``close contact gunshot and the
It was the type of wound that is often self-inflicted, he said.
Injured in the wreck was David Gayle, also of Norfolk, a 16-year-old identified by Pasquotank County Sheriff Randy Cartwright. Gayle, who was airlifted to Sentara Hospital with serious injuries, is reportedly in ``stable'' condition.
Several investigators said Gayle was apparently driving the fleeing Mustang.
Hudson said the ``close contact'' of the weapon against Barr's skull did not leave a residue of powder burns on Barr's hand but investigators who spent all day trying to sort out the events that preceded the fatal chase said the autopsy confirmed their expectations.
``I have no doubt that he died of the gunshot wound,'' said Line Sergeant Delma G. Dail, head of the North Carolina Highway Patrol in the Albemarle. Dail's troopers were among the dozen officers involved in the spectacular chase.
Before the autopsy report, several officers were speculating that Barr could have received the fatal wound as he was flung from the passenger seat across the dashboard knobs and shift lever. None of the approaching officers heard a shot fired from the wrecked car.
``Gayle and Barr had been hanging out in the Norfolk area,'' said Sheriff Cartwright, ``We've been talking to the mother of one of the youths and we think the dead man recently broke up with his girl.''
Cartwright said ballistics tests were being performed on all of the guns, particularly the small-caliber pistols, to legally determine which weapon fired the bullet that killed Barr.
In Hertford, Perquimans County Sheriff David Lane said he expected to file charges against Gayle ``When the investigation is complete.''
Although the Mustang wrecked in Pasquotank County, the chase began in Perquimans County shortly after noon Tuesday.
A resident of Holiday Island, a residential community on Albemarle Sound, called the Perquimans sheriff's department to report what appeared to be a break-in at an unoccupied home at Holiday Island.
The caller later told sheriff's deputies one of the young men seen driving away in the white Mustang lived at Holiday Island at one time.
A Perquimans deputy spotted the Mustang leaving Holiday Island and gave chase, finally roaring up U.S. 17 at 80 to 90-mph speeds toward Elizabeth City.
A highway patrol officer tried to move into a slow-block position in front of the fleeing car as it entered Pasquotank County.
The white Mustang swung onto the median strip trying to go around the Highway Patrol car and veered back out of control and across the northbound lane into the deep ditch on the right side of the highway.
Several shots were fired at pursuing law officers during the chase, police said.
``The gunfire was not returned from any of the police vehicles because of the danger to other motorists,'' said Sheriff Cartwright.
When the officers waded across the ditch and reached the wrecked Mustang, they found Barr dead in the front seat and Gayle under the front wheel.
Cartwright said he believed the guns may have come from the Holiday Island home where the men had been seen earlier.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC HIGH SPEED CHASE HOT PURSUIT by CNB