18-year-old charged with attempted murder in Parkersburg shooting

UPDATE: 12/8/25 @ 11:30 p.m.

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) - An 18-year-old man has been charged with three counts of attempted murder in connection with a shooting at Southwood Park.

Butch Wayne Knight was arrested after he allegedly fired multiple gunshots at a vehicle containing three 18-year-old victims on Belmont Rd.

The gunshots hit Devon Forshey and Bradi Florence, while Jairan Gandee was uninjured.

According to the police department, the investigation showed Knight went up to the vehicle parked in the basketball courts parking lot and allegedly fired the gun after a brief verbal exchange with the victims inside the car.

The victims then drove away in their vehicle and reached a safe location nearly one block away on Pennsylvania Ave., the release said.

According to the release, officers found Knight within six minutes of the initial 911 call. He was seen driving a vehicle near the 800 block of Neal Street.

A traffic stop was conducted, and Knight was taken into custody and taken to the Parkersburg Police Department.

Knight was charged with three counts of attempted murder and arraigned in Wood County Magistrate Court. Knight failed to post the $900,000 bond.

According to police, he will remain in the Wood County Holding Facility until he is taken to the North Central Regional Jail.

Forshey and Florence are receiving treatment for their injuries at Camden Clark Medical Center.

Additional updates will be released as the investigation proceeds and information becomes available.

UPDATE: 12/8/25 @ 5:24 p.m.

More information has been released on the shooting from Monday afternoon.

According to the Parkersburg Police Department, the Wood County 911 Center received a report of gunfire in the 2300 block of Belmont Road. Callers reported that gunshots were fired towards a vehicle.

Officers said they arrived at the scene and learned that the victims had moved nearly one block from the location of the shooting. The release said that officers found two people with gunshot wounds after finding the vehicle.

Officers found the alleged shooter and detained them within eight minutes of the initial 911 call, the release said.

The two victims were taken to Camden Clark Medical Center for treatment.

The identities of the victims and the extent of their injuries are not being released at this time, the police department said. The identity of the suspected shooter is also not being released due to the incident remaining under investigation.

“Out of an abundance of caution, three Wood County Schools were placed on lockdown to ensure the safety of students and faculty. The incident did not occur on school property, and no students or staff were injured or involved,” the release said.

One witness, Leonard Hilley, says he was waiting to pick his granddaughter up from school.

He didn’t think anything of it when he saw a car pull in at the basketball courts.

“He was there about 15 minutes. All of a sudden the passenger side door flew open and he emptied his clip,” says Hilley. “But what I hadn’t noticed at first was the other car had dropped someone off, he walked across from the swimming pool and had a gun and pulled it, when he got to the trash cans. It all just happened so fast.”

WTAP will provide more information as it becomes available.

UPDATE: 12/8/25 @ 3:15 p.m.

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) - Wood County Schools Superintendent Christie Willis says the schools received the ‘all clear’ from Parkersburg Police Department and the lockdown is lifted.

She says their coordinator of safety in security, Jeremy Bell, put Gihon Elementary and Parkersburg South on lockdown and Franklin Elementary on lockout.

Once the lockdown was lifted, Willis says they sent out a message to parents.

“The Parkersburg PD worked so quickly that before we got our message out, they already had the situation handled.”

She says dismissal will go as normal.

“I want the parents to know that Parkersburg Police Department did an excellent job in communicating with us today and in the situation that happened, they resolved it so quickly... They were handling the situation. We had the schools. Everybody was safe and we greatly appreciate their coordination and efforts,” says Willis.

ORIGINAL: 12/8/25

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) - The Parkersburg Police Department is investigating a shooting that happened on the Southside of Parkersburg.

Schools are on lock down in the area, according to Police Chief Matthew Board. He says the shooting did not involve the schools or happen on its property.

The shooting happened near Belmont Road, according to Chief Board.

We do not have any details about the shooter or any possible victims at this time.

Chief Board says the basketball courts at Southwood are off limits at this time.

We have a reporter at the scene and will share more information as it becomes available.

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