COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. -- "It could have went any way real quick, just one pull of the trigger," James Meadows said about a recent violent altercation in his Colonial Heights scrap metal and pawn shop Cal's.
"You think about it. I got a woman behind me with a gun, a man in front of me with a gun, I got a gun," he said.
Meadows said he was closing up shop for the day on the afternoon of Friday, February 2, when he asked a new employee to move his truck to the front of the business.
When Warren Darnell Fields Jr. returned to the building, Meadows said his new employee bumped into him.
"When he did, I pushed him away and then he started swinging and it was on from there," Meadows said.
During the altercation, Meadows said Fields' mother got behind him.
"The next thing I know, I’m getting hit in the head with another gun from somebody I don’t know," Meadows said.
Then shots were fired.
"I got shot twice and it was over," Meadows said. "They shot me through my upper thigh. Just thank the Good Lord I’m OK."
Meadows said another bullet ricocheted off the floor and sent fragments into his foot.
Meadows said both customers and his employees ran to his aid.
"Most people run away from the shooting, all my employees came running to me," he said. "We had a lady in here that sold us some aluminum cans and she was over there nursing me, and helping me. The poor thing was crying, I was scared to death for her."
Within minutes, police and paramedics were on the scene.
"The police, great guys, for the EMTs, the firemen in the city, those guys, they have my back and I know they have my back now," Meadows said about the response. "From the time I got [to the hospital] till the time I left, it was top-notch service."
Meadows said after she was shot, Fields asked him for his pay.
He said he believed divine intervention prevented the situation at work from becoming even worse.
"It felt like the Good Lord came over me and I could not kill him, Wayne. I just couldn’t do it," Meadows said. "I've got a wife and two daughters and seven grandchildren. I hug them all the time now."
As Meadows continues to recover from the gunshot wound, police continue searching for his employee Warren Darnell Fields Jr.
The Petersburg man is wanted for discharging a firearm in a public place, aggravated malicious wounding, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and shooting into an occupied building.
His mother, Doretha Fields, was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and aggravated malicious wounding. She is jailed and due in Colonial Heights General District Court on March 27, 2024.
Anyone with information was asked to call Colonial Heights Police Department at 804-520-9300.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
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