Police identify South Boston shooting victim

By John Crane

Published: July 3, 2008

3:30 p.m. Update:

The Virginia State Police have identified the man fatally shot by an officer Wednesday night at Sheetz in South Boston as 22-year-old Randolph Neal Seamster Jr. of Pelham, N.C.

Seamster was shot and killed by an officer with the Halifax, South Boston and Virginia State Police Regional Narcotic/Gang Enforcement Task Force, authorities said.

Return to the Web site for updates or read Friday’s Danville Register & Bee.

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Virginia State Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a man by a law enforcement officer Wednesday night at the Sheetz store on U.S. 58 in South Boston.

Sgt. Dave Cooper, public information officer with Virginia State Police, said he could not provide details regarding what happened. The shooting occurred just before 7 p.m.

“This is just the start of the investigation,” Cooper said to reporters in the parking lot of a McDonald’s across the highway from the convenience store.

Authorities cordoned off the Sheetz parking lot where officers from the state police, South Boston Police Department and Halifax County Sheriff’s Office were at the scene.

A body covered by a white sheet could be seen on the ground just below the opened passenger door of a car. The car was between a gas pump and the front of the store.

The officer who fired the shots was not injured, Cooper said. However, he would not specify the agency the officer represented or the type of weapon used in the incident.

Officers involved in shootings are normally placed on leave pending the outcome of an investigation, Cooper said.

• Contact John R. Crane at or (434) 791-7987.