Caroline County man arrested after alleged hate crime involving two Hispanic men

Correction: This story has been corrected to say that both victims did not die due to their injuries from the shooting.

CAROLINE COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A 57-year-old Caroline County man was arrested for an alleged hate crime shooting that injured two Hispanic men from Prince George County, according to Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office.

On Wednesday, Feb. 28, at around 9:30 p.m., deputies with Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office responded to a reported shooting in the Sheetz parking lot in the 5000 block of Mudd Tavern Road in the Thornburg area.

According to the sheriff’s office, two deputies who were in the area arrived and found two male victims, one who was 29 years old and the other who was 45, with multiple gunshot wounds.

Both deputies administered first aid to the victims until medical personnel arrived and transported them to an area trauma center with serious injuries.

According to the sheriff’s office, witnesses and surveillance footage were able to provide detectives with a description of the suspect and vehicle that left the scene.

With the assistance of the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office, officers arrested 57-year-old Douglas Wayne Cornett, of Caroline County, for two counts of aggravated malicious wounding and additional firearm violations.

Cornett was incarcerated at the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond. According to the sheriff’s office, a preliminary motive for the shooting “appears to be hate/bias related” as both victims were Hispanic and from Prince George County.

“Hate crimes are a stain on our society and have no place in a civilized world,” said Sheriff Roger Harris. “As a society, we must stand united in denouncing and combating hate crimes in all forms”.     

According to the sheriff’s office, the investigation is ongoing with further charges for Cornett to be forthcoming.



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