Shooting Suspect Dead

Update Friday 3 p.m. 

Virginia State Police is continuing its investigation into yesterdays shooting on Interstate 95 southbound at the 116 mile marker. Senior Trooper Michael H. Hamer remains at Mary Washington Hospital where he is recovering from a gunshot wound to his leg.

The suspect, Herbert J. Wheeler Jr., 32, who was flown to Mary Washington Hospital later succumbed to his injuries during the early morning of Dec. 9, 2011.

At approximately 1:30 p.m., Dec. 8, Virginia State Police were called to the scene of an abandoned vehicle on Interstate 95 southbound at the 120 mile marker in the center median. The 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe was abandoned after Wheeler fled on foot into a wooded area after an attempted traffic stop by a special agent with the Department of Motor Vehicles. The agent attempted to stop Wheeler for reckless driving. A search for Wheeler was conducted but he was not located.

At approximately 2:30 p.m., a tractor-trailer driver, who had stopped on the right shoulder to inspect a tire on Interstate 95 southbound at the 118 mile marker in Spotsylvania County, reported that a male subject approached him and attempted to gain access to his vehicle. The subject, later identified as Wheeler, fled back into the wooded area.

Trooper Hamer responded to the scene and located Wheeler walking along the right shoulder of the Interstate at the 116 mile marker in Caroline County at 2:49 p.m. After placing Wheeler inside his unmarked patrol vehicle, a violent struggle ensued. During the struggle, the suspect attempted to take control of the troopers service weapon when the weapon discharged striking the trooper in the leg. As the violent struggle continued inside the troopers vehicle, the trooper returned fire with another weapon. Both were transported to Mary Washington Hospital.

Once the trooper was shot, he exited his vehicle and three good samaritans, one adult male and two adult females, stopped to render aid to the wounded trooper, who was severely bleeding. The good samaritians acted heroically after the shooting took place.

Hamer began employment on October 16, 1996. On April 18, 1997, he graduated from the 95th Basic School. He was assigned to Division 1, Richmond, Area 7, Dinwiddie County. On August 25, 2011, he was transferred to Division 2, Culpeper, Area 5, Spotsylvania County. He currently has 15 years of service with the Department of State Police and served in the United States Marine Corps prior to becoming a State Trooper.

Special Agents with the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation Richmond Field Office Shoot Team are continuing their investigation into the trooper-involved shooting.

Deceased Suspect: Herbert J. Wheeler Jr., 32, 100 block of Flintlock Drive Chesterfield, Va.

-Virginia State Police press release 

 

Fredericksburg, Va. — Virginia State Police have identified the trooper who was shot on Interstate 95 this afternoon, but have released no details about the shooting itself.

Trooper M.H. Hamer, assigned to patrol Stafford and Spotsylvania counties, was called to mile post 116 near the borders of Spotsylvania and Caroline counties for a report of a man walking on the highway just before 3:30 p.m. 

Senior Hamer stopped, found the man on the highway and placed him inside his patrol car, said a Virginia State Police spokeswoman. Afterward, a struggle ensued and shots were fired injuring both Hamer and the unidentified man.

Hamer was taken to a Fredericksburg hospital with injuries that did not appear to be life threatening. The suspect in the case also is said to have suffered injuries that did not appear to life threatening.

State police have not said which gun was fired or who shot first.