The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County and its people
' t"
Baseball teams take diamond
page6
Wiggins honored by NAACP
page 2
4-Hers earn awards
page 3
March 9, 2000
Vol. 68, No. 10 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
The
01316b i lOliOO O
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD NC 27944
Perquimans
Weekly
■ n 2 i
t’ ■ ' *J b cisiiii r
One killed, ene injured in gun battle
Alleged fight
over dice game
leads to death
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
An alleged fight over a dice
game in a Hertford club early
Sunday morning left one man
dead and another in Pitt
Memorial Hospital.
Terrence Daniel Overton,
20, of Pearl Street, Elizabeth
City, was pronounced dead on
arrival at Chowan Hospital
early Sunday morning.
According to Hertford Police
Chief Dale Vanscoy, Overton
was shot in the head.
Jeremy Riddick, 22, of
Meads Trailer Park, Hertford,
PoUce
investigate
shooting
near HGS
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Hertford Police received
reports of males shooting at
each other from vehicles near
Hertford Grammar School last
week, but Chief Dale Vanscoy
said there are few clues in the
case.
Central Communications
notifed officers that two calls
had been received about shoot
ing from vehicle windows. The
first was from someone who
said a white male fired from a
two-tone pickup truck on
Edenton Road Street. The sec
ond caller said that black
males in a burgundy car were
in the east parking lot at
Hertford Grammar School and
had fired at a vehicle matching
the description of that report
ed by the first caller.
Vanscoy said he answered
the caU, but could find no vehi
cles matching the description
of either the car or the truck.
The chief said that he has
gathered from interviews in
the neighborhood that the bur
gundy vehicle pulled into the
parking lot at Hertford
Grammar School, then pulled
back out. Both vehicles were
seen on Perry Street, which
turns off of Dobbs in front of
the school. That is where shots
appear to have been fired,
Vanscoy said.
The incident is sthl under
investigation.
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 82
Low: 57
Partly Cloudy
Friday
High: 79
Low. 51
Parry Cloudy
Saturday
High: 68
Low: 47
Scattered Showers
was hit in the right leg,
Vanscoy said. He was trans
ported to Chowan Hospital and
was then airlifted to Pitt.
Vanscoy said doctors at first
said Riddick's leg would
require amputation, but were
later able to remove part of the
bullet from his bone and are
trying to save the leg.
Vanscoy said officers were
called to the scene around 3
a.m. Sunday after Riddick was
shot in front of the Upright
Social Club on Edenton Road
Street. Officers called an
ambulance and began securing
the scene.
While Riddick was receiving
medical attention from rescue
personnel, someone
approached an officer report
ing that someone else was hurt
around the corner on Dobbs
Street. Officers went to that
location and found Overton in
the passenger seat of a parked
burgundy Mazda with a head
wound. A second ambulance
was dispatched and transport
ed Overton to Chowan
Hospital, where he was pro
nounced dead.
The initial altercation,
according to police interviews
of witnesses, began over an
illegal dice game in the back of
the club. Overton allegedly got
upset over the game and was
removed from the club. Once
outside, witnesses said he was
involved in an altercation with
some individuals from
Hertford.
It was at that point, Vanscoy
said, that Riddick was shot in
front of the club.
“Then it became a running
gun battle (from in front of the
club) towards Dobbs Street,”
Vanscoy said.
That was the point at which
law enforcement officers were
called in. Vanscoy said officers
arrived to find about 75-100
people on the scene and
Riddick injured outside the
club. A few minutes later,
police were notified of the sec
ond victim.
Vanscoy said he immediate
ly called in the SBI. Five
agents, including a lab techni
cian, were sent from across
Northeastern North Carolina
to help process the crime
scene. A Perquimans deputy
and two Chowan deputies also
offered assistance. Vanscoy
said his department does not
have the resources to process
such a large crime scene with
out help.
Officers remained on the
scene until around noon, then
Stumpin’ in Hertford
'**5^ :
'fc f
M A
PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
Ed Wilson, a Democrat seeking his party's nomination for lieutenant governor, was in
Hertford Friday meeting voters. While downtown, he spoke with Carl Lewis, a Hertford
businessman presently overseeing the renovations on the Church Street building that
will house Inteliport, Inc.
Dog dead after alleged attack
Owners say dog
docile, but
neighbor said
canine attacked
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
The death of a family pet in
the Bethel community may
show the importance of pet
owners following state and
local animal control ordi
nances, according to Animal
Control Officer Ron Priddy
Priddy was called last week
first by a man who said he shot
at a dog who attacked him,
then a day later by a family
who reported that their docUe
pet had been shot and kUled.
Circumstantial evidence indi
cates the two, who live in the
River Park neighborhood, are
probably talking about the
same animal.
Priddy said he was called
around 11 p.m. last Monday
night by Sidney Sheldon.
Sheldon told Priddy he had
shot at a dog that had attacked
him twice. Sheldon said he did
not know if he had hit the dog
and asked Priddy to come and
locate the animal. Priddy said
Sheldon feared the animal
would attack him.
Priddy investigated immedi
ately, but found no evidence of
a dog or that an animal had
been wounded on the property.
A day later, Priddy said he
got a call that a family pet had
been shot and killed in the
same neighborhood. Priddy’s
subsequent investigation led
him to believe that both calls to
him were probably about the
same dog. But he said because
he never saw the dog, he is not
100 percent certain.
Pamela Graham called The
Perquimans Weekly last
Wednesday and said she found
her dog. Banjo, dead at her
back door around 11 a.m. on
Feb. 29. When her husband, a
nurse, came home, he turned
the dog over and found a bullet
hole in the animal’s stomach.
Graham said she and her
hsuband are angry, shocked,
and worried that their family’s
puppy or another of the num
ber of dogs in her neighbor
hood may meet the same fate.
“I’m worried that it might
happen to someone else,”
Graham said last Wednesday.
“Some people just don’t realize
that people’s pets are like mem
bers of their family.”
began interviewing witnesses
and possible suspects.
Police are looking for two
shooters, Vanscoy said.
Evidence recovered indicates
that two shooters bearing two
different types of guns were
involved in the shootings.
Good leads have turned up, but
Vanscoy no one has been taken
into custody nor any arrests
made.
“We've got some good leads,”
Vanscoy said. “We've been
going nonstop. We're going as
hard as we can. Hopefully, we'U
soon be able to make an
arrest.”
It's not only the shooters
who may face consequences
resulting from the incident.
Vanscoy said the dice game
being run in the club was ille
gal, and wUl be investigated.
He said that he had delivered
documentation to the Alcohol
Law Enforcement office in
Edenton last Thursday about
complaints and problems ht
the club. He said the ALE has a
nuisance team that had
already been asked to investi
gate the club, which is owned
by Earl Foreman and managed
by Kevin Foreman.
“This just adds one more
incident to the numerous com
plaints we've had about the
club,” Vanscoy said.
Vanscoy said the nuisance
team wiU interview residents
who live near the club, work
with the town attorney and
other officials to check compli
ance with local ordinances,
and check compliance with
state laws. If found to be a nui
sance and/or to be breaking
local or state ordinances, the
club may be shut down.
Girl suspended
for year for PCMS
bomb threat note
Graham said she was look
ing for answers to what hap
pened to Banjo, a 3-year-old
American bulldog, and why.
Graham said that a neigh
bor, the occupant of one of
about 30 mobile homes in her
waterfront neighborhood, had
made threats to her husband
and 7-year-old daughter that he
would kill the dog if he caught
him in his yard again. Graham
said neither Banjo or his 1-
year-old son were in the man’s
yard at the time he made the
threats. Graham said she did
not know the man’s name.
Aside from those threats,
Graham said no neighbors had
ever complained about her
family’s dogs.
In fact, Graham said one
dwelling in the neighborhood
is home to a large pack of
hunting dogs, while other resi
dents’ pets include a
Doberman, a pair of German
Shepherds, and lots of smaller
dogs.
Graham said she couldn’t
find the dogs when she looked
for them around 9 a.m. last
Tuesday. Around 10:30, she
looked out the front door and
saw blood. She found Banjo at
the back door around 11.
Please see DOG, page 11
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
A Perquimans Middle
School student was suspended
last week after admitting that
she penned the bomb threat
that disrupted school Feb. 28.
Middle school principal
Anne White confirmed Friday
that the student, whose name
was not released because she is
a juvenile, was suspended for
365 days in accordance with
state law.
House Bill 517, Stop
Threats/Acts of School
Violence, was signed into law
last July. The statute makes
school-related bomb threats or
hoaxes a Class H felony, and
requires an automatic 365-day
suspension from school.
“We followed those state
guidelines to the T,” White
said. “(Winfall Police) Officer
(David) Shaffer took out a
(juvenile) petition, so we feel
that it’s in the hands of law
enforcement at this time.”
Director of Curriculum
Chris Barber said the school
system is not responsible for
providing homebound educa
tion for the student dmring the
suspension period.
“You hate for any child not
to receive an education (for a
fun year), but you cannot jeop
ardize the education of 500 stu
dents,” White said of the sus
pension.
The incident may not be
over for the suspended stu
dent’s parents. HB 517 also
states that parents or legal
guardians wUl be held liable
for costs resulting from the dis
ruption or dismissal of school
or school activities. White said
that portion of the law wiU be
handled by a judge when the
student goes to court for the
juvenUe petition.
A teacher found a note that
indicated there was a bomb in
the school last Monday after
noon. Students left the buUd-
ing per emergency evacuation
procedures and gathered in the
baU park behind the school,
where they stayed for almost
an hour and a half.
The principal said the stu
dent confessed Tuesday morn
ing.
White said the school’s safe
ty committee met to discuss
the incident later in the week.
The fuU faculty also discussed
the matter at a meeting
Thursday afternoon. At both
meetings. White said school
personnel discussed policy and
what might need to be done to
update procedures. She said
safety policies are continuous
ly studied for improvement.
Notices were sent to parents
of middle school students
Tuesday afternoon explaining
what happened, that appropri
ate measmres were immediate
ly taken, and the penalties for
bomb threats and hoaxes set
out by state law.
County to adopt official flower
ANNA GOODWIN MCCARTHY
Correspondent
With aU the golden daffodUs
and hues of. Spring popping up
on green lawns, it is no wonder
that the Perquimans County
Commissioners have flowers
on their minds.
The commissioners dis
cussed naming a county flower
during their meeting Monday
night.
They said information must
be obtained about the flowers
of surrounding counties
before a decision can be made.
These statistics are needed to
prevent the commissioners
from approving a flower that
has already been chosen by
another North Carolina coun
ty
The commissioners will
name the flower of
Perquimans County during
their next meeting.
While discussing the cre
ation of county symbols, the
commissioners also brought
up the fact that Perquimans
County does not have a seal.
They voted to adopt the seal
that they had been using on
their stationary.
In similar news. County
Commissioner Charles Ward
said that he had been notified
that Hertford wUl now be dis
tinguished as “Historic”
Hertford on several maps.