Police search for answers in 2 shootings

Two shootings in Charlottesville over the weekend left one young man dead and another wounded.

Joshua Anthony Magruder, 19, was shot and killed at around 3 a.m. Saturday in the 700 block of Sixth Street Southeast.

Magruder, a former Charlottesville High School student and resident of the 700 block of Elm Street, is the city’s third homicide victim of 2008.

Charlottesville police have not yet arrested anyone or identified any suspects in connection with Magruder’s slaying. Police also have not offered any possible motives behind the shooting.

City spokesman Ric Barrick said police are following multiple leads in the homicide case.

Police are looking into the possibility that Magruder’s fatal shooting was connected to a second gunfire incident that happened around 7 p.m. Saturday in the 900 block of Page Street.

In the second shooting, an unidentified 18-year-old was hit once in the chest.

Police first received a call about gunfire near the corner of Ninth and Page streets. Officers responded, but found only shell casings and a vehicle that had been struck by a bullet.

The officers were then directed to the University of Virginia Medical Center, where they found the victim being treated for a gunshot wound. The victim was listed in serious condition Sunday morning, Barrick said, but is expected to recover.

In connection with the Saturday afternoon shooting, Charlottesville police arrested Calvin Earl Maupin, an 18-year-old who lives on Page Street, and charged him with two felony counts of shooting into an occupied vehicle and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Police also arrested Robert Jason Burrell, 22, a resident of Bailey Road, and charged him with one felony count of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle. Police said Burrell was a passenger in the vehicle being driven by the victim.

Barrick said police do not have evidence that the two shootings are related, but are investigating the possibility.

He declined to say if either of the shootings involved gangs.

Magruder, the homicide victim, had a criminal record. In Charlottesville, he had been arrested on a marijuana charge and multiple trespassing charges. Barrick said his record includes other offenses while he was a juvenile.

Charlottesville’s last homicide victim was 11-year-old Aziz Damar Booth, who was shot to death June 3 in his home at 330 Sixth 1/2 Street Southwest.

Waverly “Eddie” Whitlock, 27, was charged in connection with Booth’s death. Whitlock is expected to appear in court Thursday.

On April 8, Palmyra resident Shawn Anthony Luck, 29, was shot to death inside a minivan speeding down Fairway Avenue. Two women and one man have been charged in connection with that homicide.