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Caroline resident Douglas Wayne Cornett, 57, is behind bars following an investigation into a shooting that was reported on Thursday night.
Shortly before 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 28, deputies from the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office were called to the Sheetz parking lot in the 5000 block of Mudd Tavern Road in Thornburg, where they found two men - ages 29 and 45 - suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Detectives administered first aid until paramedics arrived to rush to the two men to the hospital for treatment of critical injuries, officials said.
Cornett fled the scene before first responders came to the scene, though witnesses and surveillance footage led them to identify him as a suspect and he was later apprehended.
He was arrested by members of the Caroline County Sheriff's Office and Spotsylvania detectives and charged with two counts of malicious wounding and multiple weapons offenses.
He is being held at the Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond.
Investigators say that the preliminary motive for the shooting was possibly hate or bias-related. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are pending.
"Hate crimes are a stain on our society and have no place in a civilized world," Spotsylvania County Sheriff Roger Harris said. "As a society, we must stand united in denouncing and combating hate crimes in all forms."
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