Sniper admits I-64 shootings

A night of drinking, driving and shooting at cars on Interstate 64 has landed an Afton man in prison.

Slade Allen Woodson pleaded guilty Wednesday to 14 felonies in Albemarle County Circuit Court, taking responsibility for firing a .22-caliber Ruger rifle at cars, houses, utility equipment and a deer in late March last year.

Woodson faces a mandatory minimum sentence of three years in prison because he pleaded guilty to use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. According to the statute, he could face 28 to 150 years in prison on all of the charges, although Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford said the state sentencing guidelines likely would recommend a sentence of less than 28 years.

The sniper shootings shut down I-64 for hours as police investigated. No one was seriously injured but the March 27 incident caused widespread fear, recalling the 2002 D.C. sniper shootings, and prompted the closure of Albemarle schools for the day.

In court Wednesday, Woodson pleaded guilty to five counts of maliciously shooting into an occupied vehicle, three counts of shooting from a motor vehicle, two count of malicious wounding, two counts of shooting at an occupied dwelling, one count of attempted malicious wounding and one count of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Woodson pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement, under which Lunsford agreed not to prosecute an additional use of a firearm charge that would have added a five-year minimum mandatory sentence to Woodson’s prison time.

Lunsford said in court that she agreed to the plea deal to avoid “an orchestration” of local and out-of-town victims and police having to come to Albemarle and testify for “a very provable” case.

“I felt like it was fair for the victims to take this plea agreement,” Lunsford said.

Defense attorney Jessica Smith said in court that she thought the plea agreement was reasonable.

“I think it accurately reflects Mr. Woodson’s desire to take responsibility for what he did,” Smith said in court. “[He wants to] move forward so he can have the proceedings be over with so he can get some help.”

On March 26, then-19-year-old Woodson and then-16-year-old Brandon Dawson got together to work on a car. Dawson previously testified that they grew frustrated with the car and went for a drive in Woodson’s orange 1974 AMC Gremlin. The teens were drinking beer from a case in Woodson’s car.

They also had a .22-caliber Ruger rifle that belonged to Woodson’s employer, who later reported it missing, Lunsford said Wednesday.

Woodson, now 20, fired the first shot of the night at a deer. Targets soon turned from nature to utility equipment to houses and cars — Woodson is accused of firing shots at cars driving along Interstate 64 and at occupied homes. He also has admitted to firing at a bank, bank sign and a van in Waynesboro, for which he will serve two years in prison.

Lunsford said in court that the shells and slugs recovered from various spots in Albemarle matched the Ruger rifle. Woodson could not be ruled out as the owner of DNA on a pair of camouflage pants in which the firearm was wrapped.

Smith said in court that she would have pointed out some “factual inconsistencies” if Woodson had gone to trial — including whether Woodson stole the Ruger from his employer and whether Dawson overstated how many shots Woodson fired. However, Smith said in court that they weren’t enough to merit a not-guilty verdict.

After court Wednesday, Lunsford said she was relieved that the case is nearing its end. The prosecutor said authorities weren’t sure if they were dealing with a gang initiation or another D.C. sniper case when they were investigating the shots fired on I-64.

Dawson was sentenced in July to a 180-day intensive juvenile program after appealing his original sentence of an indeterminate amount of time in a state juvenile facility.

Woodson is scheduled to be sentenced June 23.