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We now have more information about the suspect in last week’s shooting on Edmunds Street in Farmville. Farmville Police have identified the man as 39-year-old William Morgan Smith III, a Buckingham County resident. 

The Farmville Emergency Communications Center received a call at 10:01 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 31, alerting that shots had been fired in the 700 block of Edmunds Street. Farmville Police arrived on scene to find a 60-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken by the Prince Edward Volunteer Rescue Squad to Centra Southside Community Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. 

Farmville Police search for suspect

According to Farmville Police Public Information Officer Sam Bowles, “Smith attempted a carjacking and in doing so shot at the victim, causing a non-life-threatening injury.” 

That victim was treated at the hospital and released later the same day. Meanwhile, Farmville Police put out a warning, advising residents to watch out for a white male, estimated to be about 5’10 ft., weighing around 155 lbs, last seen wearing an orange jacket and blue jeans. At the time, police believed Smith was attempting to escape to Cumberland. However, they soon found the man. 

“Upon canvassing the area, we located Smith deceased with a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Bowles said. 

Smith was found not too far from the original crime, in a vehicle sitting in an alleyway off Edmunds Street. Typically in these cases, the name of the shooter would be immediately released. However, Farmville Police withheld the identity briefly, as they were trying to reach the man’s next of kin. 

More about Edmunds Street suspect

A look at court records shows that before the Edmunds Street incident happened, Smith had already been facing felony charges, alleged to have made a false statement on a criminal history consent form.

That’s a criminal history form, received when purchasing a firearm. Lying on one of those forms is considered a Class 5 felony in Virginia, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. That case had been set to go to court in April in Prince Edward Circuit Court.