|
|
| Join a discussion or start one of your own! |
| Danny Overstreet's funeral |
| Return to story index |
Printed Sept. 26, 2000
By TAD DICKENS and KIMBERLY O'BRIEN
THE ROANOKE TIMES
A Florida judge in June ordered Ronald Edward Gay to surrender all his firearms and submit to a psychological evaluation after a domestic incident with an ex-wife.
Less than three months later, he still had at least one weapon -- a black Ruger 9mm pistol. And police say he used it Friday night in what national activist groups say is one of the worst anti-gay attacks in U.S. history.
Gay sat stone-faced Monday morning as a judge arraigned him on a first-degree murder charge for the shooting death of a Roanoke man at a downtown bar frequented by gays and lesbians.
Gay remained in jail with no bail.
Police say a man walked into the Backstreet Cafe on Salem Avenue late Friday, pulled a gun from his black trench coat and fired at least eight rounds at scrambling patrons.
Danny Lee Overstreet, 43, was killed by a gunshot wound to the chest. Six other people were wounded, two seriously.
Gay, who police say confessed on videotape, reportedly had been distressed about his last name.
Police did not find any anti-gay literature among his possessions, and they haven't found any information that he was linked with any anti-gay group, Roanoke police spokeswoman Shelly Alley said.
Police found no other firearms among his things in searches at the Jefferson Lodge and at Roanoke Mountain Campground, where he recently had stayed, Alley said.
Gay bought the pistol Oct. 25, 1999, at a Roanoke-area gun shop, according to a receipt he had in his pocket. Police would not name the gun shop.
On Father's Day, June 18, Gay came into the Citrus Springs, Fla., house of Laura Ramsey, his fifth ex-wife, according to police and Citrus County, Fla., court documents. Gay, overdue on his child support, had not seen their 4-year-old son in three years when he forced his way in. She forced him back out, then he pushed her and threatened her and their son, "stating he would shoot us," according to court documents.
He "just wanted to see his son," he said when he forced his way inside, according to Ramsey.
On June 30, 5th Judicial Circuit Judge Barbara Gurrola issued a protective order requiring Gay to surrender his firearms and ammunition to Florida authorities. The order, however, only applied to Florida.
The protective order also required Gay to have a mental health evaluation. It was not clear whether he reported for that evaluation, according to authorities in Citrus County.
But he had been in and out of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem. Dr. Stephen Lemons said Gay last had been to the VA on April 26, but wouldn't say for what. On July 11, he called to say that he was leaving the area and wouldn't be back for a while, Lemons said.
At the Roanoke City Jail early Saturday morning, Gay told Roanoke sheriff's deputies that he had been suicidal 15 times in the past, Sheriff George McMillan said.
Gay said little at his hearing Monday. "Don't matter," he said when Roanoke General District Judge Julian Raney asked him whether he protested having cameras in the courtroom for the hearing.
It probably won't be the last time he'll see them. And it's not likely that first-degree murder will be the only charge he will face, Roanoke Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell said outside the courtroom.
Caldwell said he will seek grand jury indictments in October on six malicious wounding charges, some aggravated, and seven related firearms charges.
"Of course, if anyone else dies, we'll be looking at a capital murder charge" for Gay, Caldwell said.
Gay will not, however, face federal charges. Sexual orientation is not one of the protected categories under federal civil rights law.
The U.S. Attorney's Office did forward news stories about the case for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice to look into, said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ruth Plagenhoef.
Roanoke police clarified earlier information they released about Gay's encounter with a Corned Beef & Co. employee before the shooting.
Police said Monday that the employee had no idea of Gay's intentions when he directed him to The Park, another gay bar farther up Salem Avenue from the Backstreet Cafe.
The employee, whom police are not identifying, told investigators he was in an alley outside the restaurant when Gay approached him sometime between 11 and 11:30 p.m. and asked where the nearest gay bar was. The employee told him about The Park. It was then that Gay showed him his gun, saying he was going to "go waste some faggots," according to Lt. William Althoff.
After Gay left, the employee went inside and called police at 11:37 p.m., Althoff said.
Jason Hurd, an employee at Corned Beef & Co., said the person who told Gay about The Park was very upset.
"He's taking some time off," Hurd said.
After getting directions to The Park, Gay apparently headed up Salem Avenue. Police believe he heard music coming from inside Backstreet Cafe, and walked in and ordered a beer at the bar.
Police had broadcast lookouts, based on a description from the Corned Beef employee, at 11:44 and 11:46 p.m. At 11:51 p.m., someone from inside Backstreet Cafe called 911 to report the shooting.
After shooting for about 20 seconds, Gay walked out and headed toward the Virginia Museum of Transportation, Althoff said. There, he removed his black trench coat, wrapped his gun in it, and stuffed them in a trash can near the museum's front entrance, Althoff said. Witnesses told police they saw a man wrapping something in his coat, but didn't know what it was, he said.
An officer apprehended Gay at First Street and Campbell Avenue within 10 minutes of the shooting. Inside the patrol car, the officer told Gay of his rights and asked him if he wanted to talk, Althoff said. A video camera inside the police car caught Gay's comments on tape.
Gay told the officer he "came from the fag bar and blew them away."
In interviewing Gay, detectives learned about his discomfort with his last name, Althoff said. Gay said he often was chided, and was bothered that his sons later changed their last names.
"That was distressing that they were not going to use the family name," Althoff said.
Roanoke police say Gay is 53, but, according to Florida court documents, he is 54.
Staff writers Zeke Barlow and Jen McCaffery contributed to this report.
Let any elected or appointed official know what you think and how you feel by CLICKING HERE. Here's your chance to petition the government for a redress of grievances.