Police shot a Ridgeway man multiple times Monday afternoon while attempting to arrest him on charges related to a March wounding. Timothy Brian Howell, 43, was shot multiple times after police say he pointed a handgun at officers. 

Henry County Sheriff Wayne Davis held a news conference at the Sheriff's Office on Monday evening with Martinsville Police Chief Rob Fincher and the Virginia State Police to explain what happened.

"In order for the community and yourselves to have a full understanding of what took place we need to go back to March of this year," said Davis. "On March 2nd of this year, deputies from the Sheriff's Office responded to a shooting that had taken place at 5269 Mitchell Road in Ridgeway, Virginia."

Through the course of that investigation, it was determined that Howell had gone to the residence at Mitchell Road where he produced a firearm and shot Shannon Bryant and fled the scene, Davis said. Warrants for Howell's arrest were issued for malicious wounding, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a violent felon.

"We've been looking for Howell since March 2nd of this year," said Davis. "Investigators with the Henry County Sheriff's Office began working with the United States Marshall's Task Force to locate Howell and ultimately arrest him on the outstanding felony warrants."

At approximately 12:45 p.m. Monday, Henry County deputies, along with officers from the Martinsville Police Department and the U.S. Marshall's Office, located Howell at 805 Wright Road in Ridgeway. Howell was found in a camper in a wooded area away from the highway, Davis said.

"As officers encountered Howell, he was armed with a handgun. The officers announced themselves and he [Howell] subsequently pointed that gun toward law enforcement officers," Davis said. "As a result, officers fired their weapons, hitting Howell multiple times. Those officers did immediately, begin performing life saving measures on Howell."

Howell was airlifted to a hospital in Virginia for treatment of life-threatening injuries and as of 6 p.m. Monday evening, Howell was listed in stable condition, Davis said.

Both Fincher and Davis said the actions of the officers, after Howell was shot, saved Howell's life.

Davis said a search of the camper that Howell was in contained an undisclosed amount of methamphetamine.

Fincher said although the case was in Henry County, Martinsville Police assisted the U.S. Marshalls in cases like this, and were present as part of the joint operation.

Around 1:40 p.m., rescue squads, fire departments, and many law enforcement vehicles had closed down one lane of traffic on Virginia 87 near the Container Warehouse Inc. where a helicopter received Howell and headed north toward an undisclosed hospital.

As previously reported, the 911 Communications Center received a call on March 2 at approximately 4:53 a.m. indicating that Bryant had been shot in the back.

Bryant was taken to Sovah Health in Martinsville with life-threatening injuries and was listed in stable condition at 10:30 a.m. later that morning, a release stated.

Investigators determined that Howell, with an address listed in Kernersville, North Carolina, came to Bryant's home in the early morning hours and an altercation occurred between Howell and Bryant.

Bryant was shot once in the back and Howell fled the scene, a release stated.