3:35 p.m.
BURKEVILLE -- Two sex offenders who ended their protest on a roof at the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation this afternoon remained outside the building to be interviewed by officials and checked by medical staff, a Virginia State Police spokesman said.
The incident began about noon when the men climbed about 15 feet to get on a roof above a doorway, said Sgt. Thomas Molnar, the spokesman. The two tied what appeared to be sheets around their necks; one sheet was secured to a downspout and the other to a light fixture.
"I don't have a motive right now," Molnar said when asked why the men were on the roof.
Molnar said other inmates at the center have been accounted for.
Details on why the men were outside or how they made it to the rooftop were not immediately available.
The protesters were seated at a picnic table outside the facility, talking with officials.
State police responded to what they were told was a standoff situation, Molnar said. Officers on the scene included two Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents, one of them a negotiator, along with the Nottoway County Sheriff's Department and a Burkeville rescue squad vehicle.
(This has been a breaking news update. Check back for more details as they become available. Earlier updates are posted below. Read more in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch.)
3 p.m.
BURKEVILLE -- Two sex offenders on a doorway roof at the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation have ended their protest and come down on ladders voluntarily.
(This has been a breaking news update. Check back for more details as they become available. An earlier update is posted below.)
BURKEVILLE -- Two sex offenders at the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation climbed onto a roof today and refused to come down until they could talk to an official about their treatment there.
Shortly after 2 p.m., two residents were sitting on a roof over a doorway on a west-facing side of the complex and were visible from U.S. 360.
Each appeared to have a bedsheet tied around his neck. The end of one of the sheets was tied to a drain spout, and the end of the other was tied to a light fixture.
The inmates appeared to be about 15 feet above the ground.
There appeared to be several people almost directly below the two men, apparently speaking with them. A rescue squad truck was parked nearby.
Virginia State Police troopers gathered about 100 feet away with security staff at the facility and officials from the Burkeville complex.
The men climbed a fence about 11:30 a.m. to get to the roof, which is connected to the main building.
A man reporting to be a resident of the facility called the Times-Dispatch at noon and said, "We got two people up on the roof with nooses around their necks because they're violating peoples' rights here.
"We're trying to talk to these people and they aren't doing anything for us," he said.
A state legislative watchdog agency report recently questioned the screening method that is used to decide who should be housed at the center.
(This has been a breaking news update. Check back for more details as they become available. Read more in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch.)
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