All schools in Upshur County will close at 1 p.m. today. All B-UHS sporting events today are canceled.

Buckhannon man arrested after one person shot, another stabbed in botched armed robbery attempt

Hunter Michael Aragon
Hunter Michael Aragon

A Buckhannon man is in jail on $150,000 cash-only bond after an armed robbery attempt ended with one subject being shot in the face and the victim beaten and stabbed.

Hunter Michael Aragon, 21, of Buckhannon is charged with first-degree robbery, malicious wounding, wanton endangerment with a firearm, presentation of a firearm during the commission of a felony and conspiracy to commit a felony, according to the criminal complaint filed in the Randolph County Magistrate Clerk’s Office.

According to Cpl. C.G. Boatwright with the Elkins Police Department, two men – Aragon and a second man that Aragon identified as Damien Moore – attempted to rob an apartment on Davis Avenue at about 10:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 9.

Aragon told police that “he had heard someone had stuff that could make him some money, so he asked Damien for help.”

Upon arriving at the apartment, the two became involved in an altercation with Kelvin Akerley, according to the file.

“Hunter states that once they made entry into the apartment, they began to fight the ‘big mother [expletive]’ and kept telling him to ‘shut the [expletive] up’ and attempted to cover his mouth,” Boatwright writes in the complaint.

During the struggle, the firearm – later identified as a sawed-off shotgun – went off, hitting Moore in the jaw. Moore was “completely missing his lower jaw” when officers found him, according to the complaint.

Aragon then used a knife, brass knuckles and a liquor bottle to attack Akerley.

“Once Kelvin was down, Hunter states he began to flee with Damien down the stairs until we arrived and took him into custody,” Boatwright says in the complaint.

Boatwright and Senior Patrolman D.T. Sayre entered the apartment building, at which time “I topped the stairs and observed a large amount of blood in the hallway outside of Apartment 2,” Boatwright writes.

“I then saw the door begin to open and then slam,” he continues. “I announced myself and attempted to make entry. A male subject had himself against the door, refusing my entry. I then kicked the door twice, at which time he backed up and showed me his hands. The male subject, then identified as Kelvin Akerley, was covered in blood and was obviously very distraught.”

Boatwright says Akerley told officers the two individuals were running out the back, and he followed a trail of blood to the rear steps and out the door.

“I then exited the building and made contact with one male subject that was completely missing his lower jaw, bleeding terribly, and still attempting to flee with a backpack on,” the officer writes in the complaint. “I then observed another male subject with a knife in his hand around the corner of the wall to my left.”

Both men surrendered. Moore was taken to Davis Medical Center, according to the file, while officers interviewed Aragon.

Boatwright says Aragon “showed no remorse during the interview” and later made additional threats.

The officer also interviewed Akerley, who told him two men in masks entered his residence and threatened to kill him. He suffered two stab wounds, Boatwright notes.

Aragon is being held in Tygart Valley Regional Jail.

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