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Update: Wanted man in custody after considered 'armed and dangerous' near Virginia/NC border

Jesse Edwards surrendered peacefully

EDEN, N.C. –  

Update, July 20, 8 a.m.:

Deputies said Saturday morning that a man wanted in Southside is now in custody after he was considered armed and dangerous and accused of multiple crimes.

The Rockingham County Sheriff's Office said 37-year-old Jesse Edwards surrendered peacefully to deputies at the sheriff's office Friday night around 11:45 p.m. He's in the Rockingham County Detention Center under a $3 million bond. He's scheduled to appear in court July 30.

Below is a statement from the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office:

"Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page and his team at the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office would like to send a special thanks to the Eden Police Department, NC State Bureau of Investigation, NC Highway Patrol, Va. State Police, Henry County Sheriff's Office, Shiloh Volunteer Fire Department, members of the news media and the citizens of Rockingham (NC) and Henry (Va.) Counties for their diligent help in attempting to locate Edwards over the past few days."

Original story, July 16:

Authorities are searching for a wanted North Carolina man in Henry County, just outside Ridgeway, about a mile from the state line, according to Rockingham County, North Carolina Sheriff Samuel Page.

They are searching for 37-year-old Jesse Edwards who's believed to be responsible for a multitude of crimes, including kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon.

Page said he spotted Edwards at about noon Tuesday in the search area.

At the time, Edwards was in flip-flops and took off, leaving his footwear behind, according to Page.

The search will continue through the night but is being slightly scaled back.

Deputies will still be driving around looking for Edwards, but the searching on-foot is being put on hold as it gets dark.

On Sunday at 9:30 p.m., Edwards held a person at gunpoint, demanded to be driven to home and from the car he was in, fired shots from a rifle into the home, according to the Rockingham County, North Carolina Sheriff's Office.

Edwards reportedly asked to be driven to the home on Morgan Road because he was angry about an incident that happened there earlier. 

After the shooting, Edwards demanded to be dropped off at a bridge on North Carolina Highway 14 in Eden, North Carolina.

After dropping him off, the driver contacted the Sheriff's Office.

At 10:30 p.m., officers with the Eden Police Department arrived at the home on Morgan Road and learned that a 34-year-old woman had been shot in the leg and already taken to the hospital.

She is now in stable condition and her injuries do not appear to be life-threatening, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Edwards is wanted on the following charges:

  • First-degree kidnapping
  • Assault by pointing a gun
  • Assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury
  • Discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling
  • Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
  • Larceny of a firearm