BEN HUR — Lee County authorities say a man shot himself in the parking lot of Lee High School Tuesday afternoon just minutes after shooting and injuring another individual in a nearby wooded area.
Lee County Sheriff Gary Parsons identified the shooter as Hurley Eugene Underwood, 56, of Doris Avenue in Pennington Gap.
Parsons said Underwood had lured Caleb Lawson, 19, of Pennington Gap and his girlfriend, Santessa Webb, into a wooded area with the pretense of helping him dig a hole for a deer trap. Parsons said the hole was actually intended as a grave for Lawson.
Webb told police that when Lawson asked Underwood if the hole was deep enough, Underwood told him to dig deeper in one corner. When Lawson got back in the hole, Underwood allegedly pulled a gun and fired twice at Lawson.
Parsons said Lawson was shot in the arm and shoulder but managed to roll out of the hole and flee. Underwood reportedly told Webb he had shot Lawson for “ratting him out” to people.
Webb fled and called police, identifying the suspect and telling police he was driving a small, silver pickup.
Parsons said Capt. Taylor Scott was responding to the call when he spotted the truck near Lee High. The truck pulled into the school’s upper parking lot about 300 yards from the building, and Scott blocked the truck with his vehicle to keep it from going any closer to the school.
Parsons said as Scott approached the pickup, Underwood shot himself with a .32-caliber handgun, dying instantly at the scene. The sheriff said Underwood was a sex offender who had been released from prison after serving a 20-year sentence for rape and had called a family member after the shooting and said he was not going back to prison.
Lawson was treated at Lee Regional Medical Center and released.
Parsons said because Scott was present when Underwood shot himself, he has asked the Virginia State Police to handle the case.