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Man flees after shooting

Schools in Brooksville are locked down as authorities search unsuccessfully for the "person of interest."

By JONATHAN ABEL
Published November 22, 2005

	[Times photo: Keri Wiginton]
	Hernando Sheriff's Office chief of forensics Tim Whitfield, left, and crime scene technician Ken Locke investigate the scene of a shooting in Room 104 at the Budget Inn in Brooksville on Monday. A woman was wounded in the leg and a man disappeared after dashing from the motel room into nearby woods.

BROOKSVILLE - For $44.89 a night, guests of the Budget Inn in Brooksville get free local calls and HBO. On Monday morning, they got a little extra excitement.

Neil Sullivan and James Bettineschi, two Hernando County sheriff's deputies, were trying to serve a warrant about 9 a.m. when they heard a muffled gunshot at the far end of the motel at 1795 E Jefferson St.

Reba Myers, 47, came out of Room 104 yelling that she had been shot in her leg. Leman Howard, 31, ran out of the room, across Jefferson Street, and into the woods on the south side of Brooksville.

The deputies tried to follow him, said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Deputy Donna L. Black. But they couldn't catch up because they started at the other end of the motel.

Myers, of 13322 Moon Road, west of Brooksville, was flown to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa with injuries not considered life-threatening, Black said.

For the next hour and a half, authorities used a helicopter, two dogs and a number of deputies to search a swath of south Brooksville. They had no luck.

While the dragnet played out - from 9 to 10:30 a.m. - schools in the area were locked down. The schools included Moton, Brooksville and Eastside elementary schools, the Exceptional Student Education Center, Hernando High School and the Star Educational Center, said Barry Crowley, the school district's safety and security coordinator.

As of Monday evening, Howard, of 307 Cherry St. in Brooksville, had not been named a suspect in the shooting, but authorities labeled him a "person of interest" and charged him with possession of a handgun by a felon.

"A motive has not been determined at this time," Black said.

Neither Myers nor Howard were registered guests at the Budget Inn, said Jay Patel, owner of the 18-room, no-frills motel, which caters to construction workers. He said they had stopped in to see two women who had spent the weekend at the motel.

Howard has been found guilty in the past of drug dealing and drug possession. In May 2000, he was convicted of resisting law enforcement officers without violence.

In that case, he also ran from authorities until they found him in the attic of a house in Brooksville. When they threatened to send a dog into the attic, Howard surrendered.

Authorities asked that anyone with information about Monday's shooting contact Hernando County Crime Stoppers at 797-8477.

[Last modified November 22, 2005, 14:24:02]