2013-11-29

TAZEWELL -- (AP) A dispute in a rural Southwest Virginia Wal-Mart

parking lot crowded with holiday shoppers turned violent, with one

person throwing a punch and another responding by cutting the man with a

knife and brandishing a rifle.

Both men were charged Thursday after the altercation in the parking lot

of a Wal-Mart in Tazewell County that sent panicked shoppers scattering,

the sheriff's office said Friday.

Christopher Jackson, 35, was waiting for another shopper to leave a

parking space when Ronnie Sharp, 61, began sounding his horn behind

Jackson's vehicle, the sheriff's office said.

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 a rifle. The rifle was not loaded.

Sharp was charged with malicious wounding and brandishing a firearm.

Jackson was charged with disorderly conduct and assault and battery.

Both men were held at the Southwest Regional Jail in Tazewell County

until family members paid $5,000 bond each for their release. Jackson

was treated for the knife wound before he was taken to the jail They are

scheduled to be arraigned on the charges next week.

Neither man has an attorney, Hieatt said.

Hieatt said the parking lot in Claypool Hill, between the towns of

Tazewell and Richlands, was crowded and shoppers were jockeying for

spaces from other retail outlets. He said officers responded almost

immediately to the scene because Wal-Mart, anticipating a shopping

frenzy, had hired some of his deputies.

The altercation had caused a panic in the parking lot, as shoppers fled

the violence, he said.

(There are reports of fights breaking out in Wal-Mart stores around the

country. What could be more in the spirit of the season?) :)

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Religion: together we can find the cure.

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