by Kate Shunney
West Virginia State Police have charged a Paw Paw man with attempted first degree murder, burglary, assault, wanton endangerment and several other crimes following an incident that left two people wounded by gunfire late Thursday night.
Scottie L. Rhodes, 31, of McCoole Avenue was apprehended by officers at his Paw Paw residence roughly an hour and a half after a 911 call reported there had been a break-in and gunshot wounding at a home on Nebo Road in Great Cacapon.
A second man was charged with conspiring with Rhodes in the incident and driving him away from the scene. Jeremy S. Marcalus, 23, of Berkeley Springs was arrested for the felony when officers located him near Tri Lake park.
According to criminal complaints filed in Morgan County Magistrate Court on Friday afternoon, Trooper B.A. Meyers and Sgt. Scott Lemon of the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department responded to a 911 call on Nebo Road shortly after 12:30 a.m. on March 18. The officers found two females – one the owner of the residence and the other the former spouse of Rhodes – and an adult male who had suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and one under the armpit. Officers noted there was also an infant child at the home.
The individuals at the home told police that Rhodes had broken into the bedroom where his former spouse was staying, found her in bed with the other male, and demanded the man leave. They told police Rhodes then shot the man in the chest. The victim left the room briefly, and returned to find the female struggling with Rhodes over the firearm. Rhodes then allegedly stabbed the man with a box cutter knife. The man retrieved a 9mm handgun from the nightstand and told Rhodes to leave. When Rhodes refused, the man fired a round and struck Rhodes in the neck.
One of the victims told police they saw Rhodes get in the passenger side of a sedan driven by a man later identified as Marcalus.
Police found the wooden door frame of the room was damaged and split open, and they located the handgun on the bedstand with a casing in the chamber, and the slide caught on a second round. They also located a 9mm rifle against the wall in the bedroom, according to court documents.
Officers travelled to Fish Hatchery Road in an attempt to locate Marcalus. Trooper Rigby initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle Marcalus was believed to be driving, and observed “a significant amount of blood on the passenger seat/window, large gun cases in the back seat.”
Marcalus had a handgun holstered on his leg. He allegedly told police he’d dropped Rhodes off in Paw Paw near the elementary school and that Rhodes was bleeding from his head.
Trooper Meyers and Patrolman Ray then went to Rhodes’ McCoole Avenue residence where they located him in the closet of an upstairs bedroom shortly before 2 a.m.
Police said Rhodes told them he had gone to the Nebo Road residence to determine if his former spouse was romantically involved. He allegedly admitted to breaking out the window of a car in the driveway with his rifle, breaking into the home and forcing the door open, then pointing his rifle and firing inside the bedroom.
Rhodes was transported to Winchester Medical Center for treatment of his wounds. He was charged later Friday morning with multiple felony crimes. His bail was set at $50,000.
