One Dead, Two Injured After Family Disagreement

"CHARLESTON, WV — A teenage girl is dead, another teen is wounded and an elderly man is seriously hurt after an apparently botched murder-suicide on 225 Keystone Drive, just south of Yeager Airport, at about 7:30 p.m. Friday.

"Roy Roger Pittman, 69, killed his 15-year-old adopted stepdaughter with a shotgun blast to the chest and shot his 18-year-old adopted stepson in the upper leg Friday evening after a family dispute, according to Kanawha County Chief Deputy Mike Rutherford.

"When police arrived at the scene and ordered Pittman to put his weapon down, he turned the 12-gauge shotgun on himself and `shot himself in the face,` Rutherford said.

"`They were having a family disagreement, and he shot his adopted daughter inside the house... then he walked next door to where his adopted son was and shot him,` Rutherford said. `He then went to the back porch of his residence and, when he was ordered to put down the weapon, he shot himself in the jaw.`

"Pittman was alive and being treated at CAMC General Hospital late Friday. The stepson was being treated for his leg wound.

"Pittman's wife, and the mother of the two children, made the 911 call after hearing the gunshots, Rutherford said."

From the Charleston Gazette...