Man shot by police after holding woman at gunpoint at interstate rest stop

Thursday, Dec. 9, 1999 | 10:02 a.m.

Troy Matthews, 29, also known as Troy Oden and by other aliases, had been holding Vanessa Hall at gunpoint near a flagpole at the Hickory Run rest stop of Interstate 80, near Wilkes-Barre.

The 25-year-old Las Vegas resident was not injured but was taken to a hospital for a checkup and counseling. She was "taking it quite well," a state police spokesman said.

The couple had gotten onto a Greyhound bus in Chicago. Matthews pulled out a gun at about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday when the driver stopped in northeast Pennsylvania, state police Capt. Richard Zenk said.

Matthews had an automatic weapon with him and had asked for a telephone. He told police he would not be captured alive and was shot as he tried to get back on the bus, police said.

State police Sgt. Robert Luciotti, who negotiated with Matthews, said the decision to shoot came when Matthews tried to reboard the bus with Ms. Hall.

"We could not let him get on that bus with a hostage," Luciotti said. "Once there he would have the bus. And there could have been other weapons on it, so we decided it wasn't an option."

Matthews was not specific about what he wanted or where he was going, Luciotti said. He said at one point it appeared Matthews would give up the gun, but never did. He said Matthews did ask for a phone, and Luciotti said he would have given him one in exchange for the gun.

"I was talking to him for a while and wanted him to let her walk to us and get it resolved," he said. "We just couldn't get him to give it up."

State police Capt. Richard Zenk said members of the Special Emergency Response Team had a "conditional green light" to shoot Matthews in a number of situations, including if he tried to get on the bus. When Matthews started moving back toward the bus, troopers shouted several warnings, and then shot him once in the head.

The shooting came as negotiations were "going nowhere," Zenk said. Matthews allegedly would make promises then fail to deliver, Trooper Lisa Girman said.

Andy Morris of Pittsburgh, a passenger on the bus, said that as the driver neared the Route 309 exit in Butler Township at around 9 a.m., he told passengers the bus was overheating. The driver pulled the bus into the rest stop, about 2 miles from the White Haven/Route 940 exit.

People got off the bus, Morris said, and went to use the telephones and rest rooms.

"There were police behind the bus when we got back to it," Morris recalled. "There was a man, and he had a gun pointed at a lady's head." When other passengers saw this, they started running away from the bus, Morris said.

"I ran. Quick," he said.

Matthews, his left arm wrapped around Ms. Hall's upper body and his right holding a large automatic handgun at her head, pulled Ms. Hall over to the flagpole in the middle of the rest area, where they remained for almost six hours.

Kristen Parsley, a spokeswoman for Dallas-based Greyhound Lines Inc., said the bus originated from Los Angeles and was headed to New York.

The bus driver, Milton Leverette, 43, of Cleveland was passed a note that someone on the bus might be dangerous, so he pulled over on the pretext of a mechanical problem, Ms. Parsley said.

"We're extremely proud of him," Ms. Parsley said. "He saved lives today by his quick thinking."

All but 21 of the 47 passengers got off the bus before Matthews pulled a gun on Ms. Hall, police said.

On Nov .29, Matthews forced his way into the back door of the Las Vegas beauty supply store where Ms. Hall worked and forced her out at gunpoint.

Ms. Hall had a temporary protective order filed against Matthews who was already wanted by police in connection with an Oct. 31 home invasion at Ms. Hall's residence. The couple have four children together.