Police make arrest in hatchet attack off off-duty trooper at Virginia church
TROUTDALE, Va. October 1 2020 A suspect has been arrested for swinging a hatchet at a church and wounding a Virginia State Police trooper.
State Police say Sunday night, with people gathered inside the church on Flat Ridge Road in Troutdale, someone banged on the front entrance doors.
An off-duty Virginia State Police trooper who was in the church opened the door. Standing just outside was a man and a dog, according to police.
The trooper asked if he could help, and the man, holding a hatchet, yelled at him. As the trooper tried to close the door, the man swung the hatchet and hit the back of the trooper’s hand.
The trooper closed the door and told everyone to get into the church basement.
The trooper sustained minor scratches to his hand and was treated at the scene. No one else at the church was hurt.
Police say the man and his dog left the property, at which time the trooper helped everyone in the congregation to their vehicles. The trooper then heard the man yelling and howling from the woodline, leading to a search that lasted until Tuesday.
Gregory D. Graham, 31 of Marion, has been named by Virginia State Police as the suspect arrested in this case.
Authorities were alerted shortly after 12:30 p.m. Tuesday to information that led them to Graham’s home in the 300 block of Brushy Mountain Road where he was arrested without conflict. The Town of Marion Police Department and the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the arrest.
Graham is charged with one count of malicious wounding and is being held without bond at the New River Regional Jail. Additional charges are pending.
