WASHINGTON 鈥斅營t has been a year since a man shot a local聽store clerk twice in the head in order to steal a cold medicine, and police are still searching for the gunman.
The victim, a mother of three,聽survived聽the brutal attack.
On March 8, 2014, on Route 3 and Brock Road in Spotsylvania just before 3 a.m. and shot the clerk, Kelly Wood, in the head.
The suspect had asked Wood聽to get him聽a smokeless tobacco product and when she聽turned her back on the suspect, he pulled a handgun out of his pocket of his coat and he shot Wood in the back of the head.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no doubt in anyone’s mind that he intended to kill this clerk,鈥� says Captain Jeff Pearce with Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office.
Pearce says the man did not take any cash. But what he did take was an Ephedrine display cabinet.
Before leaving the store, the suspect shot Wood again 鈥� this time in the face.
“His intent was to kill her to get away with the Ephedrine,” Pearce says.
Ephedrine is used to make methamphetamine.
“We believe that this suspect was taking Ephedrine in order to manufacture聽illicit drugs,” he adds.
Wood has undergone multiple surgeries since the incident.
“There’s going to be some聽issues that are going to be with her physically聽for the rest of her life,” Pearce says.
He says the sheriff鈥檚 office has worked with other law enforcement agencies on this case, including federal and state agencies.
The suspect is described as a 25- to 35-year-old white man with a goatee. He is between 5 feet, 4 inches and 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs between 160 and 170 pounds. According to video surveillance, he was wearing a dark hoodie sweatshirt and jeans at the time of the shooting.
“We feel聽that somewhere out there, someone聽knows who this person is.聽 They聽may be afraid to come forward because of his violent nature,” says Pearce.
A $10,000 reward is being offered in this case and anyone with information is being asked to call police or the Spotsylvania Crime Solvers聽at 540 582-5822.聽 You don’t have to give your name you can remain anonymous.
He adds that the suspect could have changed his appearance in the last year.
