"We were in denial that there could ever be a gang problem in little, rural West Virginia"

[Lucinda F. Boyd]

An investigation into the shooting of a police officer in Southern West Virginia is leading investigators into things they'd hoped they'd never see.

Lieutenant Jim Sizemore with the Fayette County Sheriff's Office says the incident has revealed that, without question, his rural county is now a growing region for big city style gang activity.

Oak Hill Police Officer Chris Young was shot last month by a man driving a vehicle with an Ohio license plate. From that small bit of information, legwork and public information, they've been able to trace the shooter to drug activity and gang activity connected to the notorious Crips and Bloods street gangs.

"This incident has opened our eyes quite a bit," said Sizemore. "We are taking steps to address that."

Police still don't have a name on the person wanted in the shooting but they've been able to make a number of connections to the Columbus, Ohio area and street names that match database information maintained by various street crime units nationwide.

"We had arrested individuals in the past that had gang related tattoos , but to be perfectly frank, we'd written it off as posers and wannabes," Sizemore said. "We were in denial that there could ever be a gang problem in little, rural West Virginia."

The shooting on a lonely stretch of Route 61 at the edge of Oak Hill has changed that long held theory and changed law enforcement in the region for good. Fortunately, Corporal Young was okay after the shot that struck him. It hit his bulletproof vest.

But the issues it brought up for law enforcement officers, Lieutenant Sizemore says, cannot be ignored.

"We have a serious problem brewing here," Sizemore said.