A man charged with murder in a shooting spree that left two dead was denied bail Friday at a hearing during which he muttered and cursed.
Allison Lamont Norman, 22, seemed agitated and distracted in court, muttering to himself and uttering a string of profanities as he sat shackled and surrounded by guards, prompting the judge to threaten to muzzle Norman at future hearings.
“He is a threat to the community,” said Judge R. Scott Davis in denying bail.
Norman was arrested after a series of shootings Thursday that left two dead and four wounded along the 13 miles from Laurel, Del., to Salisbury, Md. He was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a handgun when he was caught, police said.
First-degree murder charges in two states
He was charged in Maryland on Thursday with first-degree murder and handgun violations. Other charges, including attempted murder and carjacking, were possible, prosecutors said. He was charged in Delaware late Friday with first-degree murder, officials said.
The killings came a day after Norman skipped a court hearing related to an October gun fight with another man outside a convenience store in Delmar, Del. He faces four weapons violations stemming from the incident, court records show.
Authorities were still trying to pinpoint a motive for Thursday’s shootings, which started at an apartment complex in Laurel, where Jamell Weston, 24, was shot to death and two others were wounded.
The suspect then went to a Laurel shopping center, shooting a 45-year-old man in the stomach and leg, authorities said. The victim, who was in stable condition, may have been trying to hitch a ride with Norman, authorities said.
After leaving Laurel, Norman allegedly drove through Delmar, where more shots were fired. No one was hit, but one bullet lodged in a home near a sleeping child, authorities said.
Indiscriminate shooting
He then continued across the Maryland state line, indiscriminately shooting at people, cars, homes and pets in Salisbury, authorities said. Davondale Peters, 28, was killed in what may have been an attempted carjacking. Two women were also wounded, one critically.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested Norman after a brief foot chase. He did not offer any significant resistance and may have run out of bullets, authorities said.
According to a probation officer’s report, Norman has at least three felony and 15 misdemeanor convictions in Delaware.
At the time of the October incident, Norman was on probation related to a series of arrests dating to New Year’s Eve 1999, when he charged with trafficking cocaine and other charges. He was sentenced to six months in a prison boot camp and 2½ years probation.
Four months after leaving prison, he was arrested for possessing drugs outside a school. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, but served three before being released in March 2004.