Neighbors recount interaction with shooting suspect and victim

MINGO COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - An hours-long manhunt kept people either away from their homes or stuck in lockdown in the Beech Creek area of Mingo County as law enforcement searched for the suspect Timothy Kennedy.

As Doris Artis spent Friday at her home, she never thought a man she’s known for nearly a decade would knock on her door asking for help.

“I heard two shots and by the time I got through my house, the boy who was shot was knocking on my door telling me to let him in and get him some help because he’d been shot,” Artis said.

That man who came to her for help was Benjamin Baldwin.

Artis says she did everything she could to help Baldwin as they waited for troopers and an ambulance.

“They told me to keep the boy talking, to stay on the phone while they got the information and I got a little impatient and said get me some help,” Artis said. “I put a pillow under his head and did what I could to comfort him, turned the air conditioner as low as I could get it.”

State Police say Baldwin is in stable but critical condition at a Charleston hospital.

Troopers scoured the area for hours looking for Kennedy, but weren’t having luck until late Friday night when they got a call tipping them off to his location.

Harriet Cisco says her family called police after Kennedy walked up to their house.

“About 10, 11 o’clock last night he [Kennedy] knocks on the door asking for a pop. My husband tells him the law is looking for him and he can’t let him in or nothing,” Cisco says.

While they were contacting the police, they realized Kennedy had taken off in one of their cars and was nowhere to be found.

“We called back later when we realized the car was gone and that he was in the car and we gave them the description of the car,” Cisco said.

State police say not long after, Kennedy was taken into custody and the lockdown was lifted early Saturday morning.

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice identified Sgt. Cory Maynard as the state trooper who was shot and killed Friday.

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