(from State Police) ROANOKE, Va. – At the request of the United States Marshals Service (USMS) of the Western District of Virginia, the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Salem Field Office is investigating a death that occurred during a felony traffic stop in Roanoke County.
On Sept. 27 the USMS Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force was conducting an ongoing criminal investigation into a fugitive suspect known to be in the area of Route 220 in Roanoke County [near Hunting Hills]. Task force members identified a passenger in a Toyota pickup as the wanted individual and initiated a traffic stop at approximately 9 p.m. Task force members activated emergency lights and siren to initiate the traffic stop and the Toyota turned off Route 220 and stopped on Crossbow Court.
As the USMS members approached the Toyota, they heard a single gunshot. When the Marshals and task force members got to the vehicle, they found the passenger suffering from what appears to have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Law enforcement on scene immediately rendered aid to the passenger, who was later identified as Joshua R. Donahue, 47, of Roanoke. Donahue was transported by EMS to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where he later died. The remains were transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Roanoke for examination and autopsy. No law enforcement on scene discharged their weapons. The adult male driver of the pickup truck was not injured in the shooting.
