Following a five-hour standoff Tuesday afternoon, Charlottesville police negotiators persuaded a double murder suspect to surrender himself into custody.
Police believe city resident Craig Edmund Nordenson, 20, attempted to rob three people sitting under the coal tower near East Market Street at about 4:30 a.m. Saturday, Charlottesville director for communication Maurice Jones said.
In the course of the robbery, Nordenson allegedly shot and killed 16-year-old Katherine L. Johnson of Albemarle County and 23-year-old Marcus Terry Griffin of Georgia. The third man escaped unharmed after the botched robbery, according to police reports.
A Charlottesville resident reported seeing a man on Monday matching Nordenson's description near the coal tower, where Nordenson is believed to have lived. Nordenson allegedly fired two shots as officers approached the tower around 9:30 p.m. Police, armed with bulletproof vests and rifles, secured and cleared the area by 8:45 Tuesday morning.
Nordenson fled the tower and was seen running across Market Street on Tuesday. Police chased him to the 1100 block of EastJefferson Street, where Nordenson hid in a resident's backyard shed until police negotiators persuaded him to surrender five hours later, shortly before 4 p.m.
In their pursuit of the suspect, police "had two priorities - capturing the suspect and bringing him in without anyone else being hurt," Jones said."The Charlottesville Police Department has been working 24 hours a day since Saturday."
Nordenson faces two counts of murder, three counts of attempted robbery, and single counts of breaking and entering and grand larceny in addition to a count of illegal use and possession of a firearm.
Nordenson is being held at the Charlottesville-Albemarle Regional Jail. His court-appointed attorneys, Denise Y. Lunsford and Rhonda Quagliana, did not request bond at his Wednesday hearing. Nordenson will reappear Oct. 4 in Charlottesville's General District Court.
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