Crowded holiday shopping lot in Va. turns violent
TAZEWELL, Va. (AP) — Authorities in rural southwest Virginia say a dispute in a parking lot crowded with holiday shoppers turned violent, with one throwing a punch and another responded by cutting the man with a knife and brandishing a rifle.
Both men were charged Thursday night after the altercation outside a Wal-Mart in Tazewell (TAZ’-wehl) County that sent panicked shoppers scattering.
The Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office says 35-year-old Christopher Jackson was waiting for another shopper to leave a parking space when 61-year-old Ronnie Sharp began sounding his horn behind Jackson’s vehicle.
Sheriff Brian Hieatt said Jackson got out of his vehicle and confronted Sharp, punching him, and Sharp responded by severely cutting Jackson on the arm with a knife and pulling out an unloaded rifle.
Neither man has an attorney.