DATE: Thursday, September 25, 1997          TAG: 9709250371

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ADAM BERNSTEIN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   47 lines

TESTIMONY OFFERS NO INSIGHT INTO SHOOTINGS

Gregory Faircloth said he knew Licien L. Mitchell only by sight. They'd never spoken to each other.

But when Faircloth and four friends had a chance encounter with Mitchell on Aug. 5, Faircloth asked - for reasons that are unclear - why Mitchell intended to rob him.

The next thing Faircloth knew, Mitchell shot him and one of Faircloth's friends, Jamarr Lamb, Faircloth testified in court Wednesday. Lamb was fatally wounded.

The hearing was to determine whether charges against Mitchell would proceed. General District Judge S. Lee Morris sent the case to the grand jury for possible indictment. Mitchell, 20, of the 700 block of Frederick Blvd., is accused of murder, two counts of attempted murder, one count of malicious wounding and four counts of using a firearm.

Lamb, 17, was shot on a sidewalk in the first block of Seminole Drive during a period in which there were seven shootings in less than a week in Portsmouth.

Faircloth testified that he and his four friends saw Mitchell and an unknown man approach them between 7 and 7:30 p.m. Faircloth said he asked Mitchell why he wanted to rob him, explaining to Mitchell there was ``no real reason'' to do so. ``He didn't say nothing, turned around, picked up the gun and shot,'' Faircloth said of Mitchell's reaction.

``I sort of saw his arm moving,'' Faircloth said.

And when Faircloth ran to a parked van to shield himself, he said, he was shot in the back.

Faircloth said that the weapon was a ``grayish'' semi-automatic handgun and that after he was shot, he heard more gunfire.

He testified that he did not see Lamb fall to the ground.

One of Faircloth's friends, Jason Harris, 17, testified that Mitchell shot at him but said he did not see Mitchell shoot Lamb.

Faircloth was treated at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. Lamb died at the hospital.

Faircloth said the only person involved in the incident who was armed was Mitchell. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

The case involving a murder charge against Licien L. Mitchell has

been sent to a grand jury for possible indictment. KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING

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