By Cleve Wiese

Published: May 6, 2008

Police descended on the Waynesboro public library this morning minutes after receiving an email sent from that location by an individual claiming to be Chad Shores, a violent Oregon fugitive authorities suspect might be in the area.

Within five minutes of receiving the 10:35 a.m. email, eight officers arrived at the library, immediately sealing its entrances and exits, said Sgt. Kelly Walker of the Waynesboro Police Department. Plainclothes officers then searched the building. No one matching Shore’s description was located.

Officers subsequently interviewed library patrons and employees, especially those seen using computers, but none reported seeing anyone resembling Shores, Walker said.

“We’re leaning heavily towards the possibilty that someone, for whatever unknown reason, is purporting to be [Shores] to lead us on,” he said.

Polling at the library for Waynesboro’s municipal elections was not affected by the raid, Walker said.

Authorities were alerted to the possibility Shores was in Waynesboro a week ago after receiving a similar email, also sent from the library, Walker said. Following up on the lead, police linked Shores to an individual in Lynchburg – a connection that gave credence to the earlier information, Walker said. 

Court records indicate that Shores might have several relatives living in the Lynchburg area. Police also have learned of a possible link to Waynesboro, Walker said.

Shores was last seen in February in Hawaii, according to the “America’s Most Wanted” Web site.  Police say Shores might have been working in sugar cane fields there as a day laborer, the site said.

Shores now might be living in the Valley under an alias, Walker said. Patrol officers with the Waynesboro and Staunton police
departments and the Augusta County Sheriff’s Department have been issued photographs of the fugitive.