A dozen officers with the Morgantown Police Department were isolated on Friday after responding to a shooting where one of the suspects had contact with a COVID-19 positive patient.
The suspect who was exposed to COVID-19 was tested and the result came back negative on Saturday evening. The officers involved have returned to duty, according to MPD Chief Ed Preston.
Gregory Stump, 50, of Moorefield and Dusti Akers, 31, of Morgantown, are each charged with wanton endangerment. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are pending, Preston said.
Just before 5 a.m. Friday, MPD was dispatched to a shots fired report in the 700 block of Grand Street and officers were looking for a car reportedly headed towards Morgantown High School, Preston said.
Officers found and stopped the car Stump was driving — a blue Infinity G35. During the stop, officers found out he was involved in the Grand Street shooting, according to Preston.
Stump came to Morgantown to meet Akers’ sister to buy drugs, Preston said. Stump handed over the money for the drugs, but Akers’ sister went inside the Grand Street home and did not give Stump the drugs he paid for.
Akers then confronted Stump with a semi-automatic pistol and fired a shot into his car, Preston said. Stump fired one shot in return and fled before being stopped by the MPD.
According to a criminal complaint, Akers shot through the open driver’s window, through the driver’s seat headrest and out the rear passenger door. Stump fired into the air.
A search warrant was executed on Stump’s 2005 Infinity and at Akers’ home where “small amounts” of cocaine and marijuana were found, Preston said.
Two semi-automatic pistols were recovered — one in the house and one in the car, Morgantown Communications Manager Andrew Stacy said. One was a Taurus 9mm and the other was a Taurus .45 ACP. Both are semi-automatic.
During the arrest, officers found out Akers was exposed to a family member diagnosed with COVID-19, Preston said. The officers were not wearing their personal protective equipment because of the emergency nature of the call and were possibly exposed to the virus.
The Monongalia County Health Department was alerted of the potential exposure, the officers were isolated and removed from duty until their test results were available, Preston said. Their uniforms and equipment, as well as prisoner processing areas and vehicles were all decontaminated.
The MCHD took a sample from Akers and sent it to West Virginia University Medicine for testing. The results came back negative on Saturday evening and the officers were returned to duty, Preston said.
Magistrate Jim Nabors arraigned Stump and Akers. Stump was released on a $3,500 personal recognizance bond. Akers bond was set at $10,000 which was posted by a bondsman.
Stump is charged with two counts of of possession of a controlled substance and one count of violating the governor’s executive stay-at-home order, according to Magistrate Court records.
