by Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Editor’s Note: It is FXBG Advance policy to not post photos of police suspects.
On Wednesday, deputies responded to a reported shooting in the Sheetz parking lot in the 5000 block of Mudd Tavern Road in Thornburg.
Upon arrival, detectives found a 29-year-old male and a 45-year-old male suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Both detectives administered first aid to the victims until medical personnel arrived.
The victims were transported to an area trauma center with critical injuries. The suspect left the scene, but witnesses and surveillance footage provided detectives with a description of the suspect and the vehicle that left the scene.
Douglas Wayne Cornett, age 57 of Caroline, was arrested by Caroline County Sheriff’s Office and Spotsylvania Detectives for aggravated malicious wounding (2 counts) and additional firearm violations.
Cornett was incarcerated at the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond. A preliminary motive for this violent and unprovoked act appears to be hate/bias related. Both victims were Hispanic and from Prince William County.
The investigation is ongoing and further charges may be forthcoming.
Sheriff Harris said that “Hate crimes are a stain on our society and have no place in a civilized world. As a society, we must stand united in denouncing and combating hate crimes in all forms.”
