The commonwealth’s attorney in Roanoke has been appointed to examine findings in the shooting of an elderly Altavista resident by a town police officer.
Don Caldwell, who’s been the commonwealth’s attorney in Roanoke since 1979, said Tuesday he will review the facts and pertinent laws and determine if criminal charges are warranted.
On Monday, Campbell County Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul McAndrews said Judge John Cook had entered an order appointing Caldwell as the special prosecutor.
McAndrews said with the facts in the case, it seemed appropriate for an independent prosecutor to look into the incident. He said having an outside prosecutor named is fairly common when an independent investigation is done by the Virginia State Police.
Caldwell said he hoped to reach a decision by the first of the new year. He said the investigation and his work would take about 90 days from the date of the incident. He said part of the time is due to getting toxicology reports. He said he may also need to talk to witnesses in the incident.
The state police continue to investigate last month’s shooting. Corinne Geller, public relations director for the Virginia State Police in Richmond, didn’t report any new information Monday.
She had said last week these types of investigations take weeks to complete.
Delma Towler, 83, was shot by an Altavista police officer Sept. 19.
According to the state police, officers repeatedly told her to put her weapon down. A press release said she didn’t and pointed it at the officers. She was then shot by one of the two officers at the scene on 10th Street
Altavista Police Chief Clay Hamilton said a handgun was recovered from Towler.
One of Towler’s sons, Robert Barbour, said Monday night the death certificate said his mother was shot in the neck, left leg and pelvis.
Madeline Clark, one of Towler’s daughters, said her mother wouldn’t have shot anyone. Family members believe she fired that night to scare a prowler out of her house. They think she then ran to the safety of her sister’s house.
Hamilton said there hasn’t been any evidence found of a prowler.
The officer who fired has not been named. He is on paid administrative leave.
Hamilton said the name will be released at the end of the state police investigation or when Caldwell comes out with his decision.
Caldwell said he doesn’t know the name of the officer who’s involved. He said once he knows the name, he will release it. He said the name being public won’t make any difference in the investigation. He said when bits of information aren’t known, the rumor mill keeps going.
Barbour said he spoke to Caldwell for a few minutes a few days ago. He said Caldwell was getting telephone numbers for other family members.
Barbour said he’s having trouble sleeping since the incident. He said he gets three or four hours of sleep before waking up and not being able to go back to sleep. He said his mother’s death stays on his mind.
“I’m hoping it will get better,” he said.
Hamilton, in an interview at his office last week, said he and the police department are “deeply saddened” about what happened. He said that includes the officers who were involved. He said it was a tragic thing.
The department sent flowers to the funeral home.
Last week, family members said they hadn’t heard from the police.
Hamilton said the department feels bad about not being able to communicate with the family. But he said it’s normal protocol in investigations.
“I would love to be able to talk to them,” Hamilton said.
He said as soon as the investigation is completed, the department will be able to talk to the family and the community.
“We’ll be very transparent with what the findings are, whatever they are.”
While the state police is doing its investigation, Hamilton said the department is doing an internal one. He said it won’t be concluded until the results from the state police and commonwealth’s attorney are known,
He said from the department’s investigation so far, the activities of the officers that night followed department policy.