SALEM, Va. – Zane Chandler Christian is now in police custody.
He was arrested late Tuesday morning in Ravenswood, West Virginia, about three hours away from Blacksburg, where he charged with carjacking.
The U.S. Marshals Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, which is based in Roanoke, coordinated with Salem PD, and the FBI who all worked jointly in the manhunt.
Authorities learned that Christian had gone to the area of Charleston, West Virginia.
With assistance from the U.S. Marshals Task Force, out of Southern District of West Virginia, Christian was quickly arrested in Ravenswood, WV without incident.
In Salem, Christian is charged with felony murder, malicious wounding, reckless handling of a firearm and three counts of child neglect.
The child neglect charges were filed because three young children were present at the scene at the time of the shooting, according to police.
The 27-year-old man shot on Monday afternoon in a Salem parking lot has died, according to police.
Rico Turner, of Bedford, died Monday night after police say Zane Chandler Christian, of Christiansburg, shot him at the Lakeside Plaza shopping center.
Christian is the estranged husband of Rico Turner’s fiancee, according to search warrants.
They also show that she was also in the parking lot at the time of the shooting.
Christian is now wanted on a charge of felony murder as authorities continue searching for him.
ORIGINAL STORY
Two Monday afternoon violent crimes about 35 miles apart are connected to a man considered armed and dangerous, according to authorities.
First, a man shot someone in Salem, then, drove down to Blacksburg where he carjacked someone near Virginia Tech’s campus.
Shortly before 4:45 p.m., Salem police released an image of Zane Chandler Christian, of Christiansburg, the suspect in these cases.
In Salem, Christian is now wanted on charges of malicious wounding, reckless handling of a firearm and three counts of child neglect.
The video below is a 3 p.m. update in this case:
This all started at 1:55 p.m., when authorities received a 911 call that a man had been shot at the Lakeside Plaza shopping center.
Officers arrived to find the victim, who was then transported to a hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries.
Salem police tell us the investigation is very much underway at this time.
Then, at 2:34 p.m., a carjacking happened in the 800 block of University City Boulevard in Blacksburg, just off of Virginia Tech’s campus.
The suspect pulled out a gun and took a vehicle from the victim, according to Virginia Tech Police.
He’s described as a white man with brown hair and blue eyes. He’s 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs about 165 pounds. Police said the man was wearing a black hoodie and a face mask.
The stolen vehicle is a white 2006 Toyota Corolla with Tennessee tags BTG-251 and was last seen on University City Boulevard in the direction of Prices Fork Road.
Anyone who sees this vehicle is asked to call 911 immediately.