WHEELING - West Virginia State Police on Tuesday identified Kevin Lee Walnoha as the man who was shot and killed by a store employee while attempting to rob the Elm Grove Pharmacy on Friday.
Walnoha, 37, of Wellsburg jumped over the pharmacy counter, brandished a handgun and demanded pills from a pharmacy worker about 5 p.m. Friday, police said. He then reportedly pointed the gun at a second employee who appeared from a back office. The first employee had access to a gun and shot Walnoha during the incident. Walnoha died at the scene.
State Police on Sunday arrested Melody Fisher, 40, of Beech Bottom on charges of accessory before the fact to armed robbery. She was served with a warrant for a charge of conspiracy to commit armed robbery the following day.
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Photo by Shelley Hanson
State Police work the scene of a robbery and shooting Friday at the Elm Grove Pharmacy.
Fisher remained lodged in the Northern Regional Jail in Moundsville on Tuesday in lieu of $1 million bond while awaiting a June 4 preliminary hearing before Ohio County Magistrate Joe Roxby.
According to State Police, the investigation is ongoing.
A man, believed to be the pharmacy employee who pulled the trigger, was spotted at the scene sitting in the front passenger's seat of a police cruiser.
The man was visibly upset.
State Police Cpl. J.E. Dean on Tuesday said Wheeling police officers and state troopers arrived on the scene of the attempted robbery and shooting at East Bethlehem Boulevard at the same time Friday.
In addition to Wheeling officers and state troopers, representatives from the Brooke County and state medical examiner's offices were at the scene.
It is unknown if Walnoha was also the man who robbed the Rite-Aid Pharmacy in Warwood at gunpoint May 21.
That robber made off with about 3,400 prescription pills.
