Salem man will spend nearly six years in prison for firing a gun toward his roommate in an incident last winter, report

A man from Salem who shot at his roommate in their home last winter has been given a prison sentence of five and a half years.

In January 2022, 58-year-old Randolph W. Hargrave was charged with attempted second-degree murder, using a gun to commit a crime, shooting in an occupied home, and shooting within city limits.

Hargrave pleaded not guilty on February 2 to charges of attempted murder and using a gun. As part of a plea deal, the judge agreed to Tom Bowers’ request that the two shooting charges not be prosecuted.

During a plea hearing in May, Hargrave’s former roommate Patricia Short said that he had been drinking the morning of the incident and that she thought he was trying to kill himself.

Short testified in May that Hargrave sat in the stairwell of their split-level home and asked her to look at him. Hargrave fired a gun when she did. Short was sitting in a chair nearby when the bullet hit the ceiling above him.

Bowers said Thursday that at the time of the incident, Hargrave was a “terrible alcoholic” with “no prior [criminal] history at all” who did what he did because he was “desperate.”

Hargrave’s 10 year sentence for attempted murder was suspended after he served 2 years and 6 months in prison. This was part of the deal he made when he pleaded guilty.

Hargrave was given three years in prison because he used a gun during an attempt to kill someone. This is the minimum sentence for this charge in Virginia.

The Western Virginia Regional Jail is holding Hargrave.