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Police searching for gunman after Plains Twp. fatal shooting

PLAINS TWP. - Authorities responding to a vehicle crash Friday night along Red Roof Inn's exit ramp uncovered a bullet-riddled man slumped over the wheel in what would quickly become an intense homicide probe and hunt for the killer.

Leslie Keneyatta Smith, shot multiple times somewhere near the hotel, was rushed to nearby Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, where the 27-year-old was pronounced dead upon arrival, officials confirmed Saturday.

In an apparent attempt to flee his shooter and seek help, the Brooklyn, N.Y., man sped away in a Nissan sedan but didn't make it far. The car slammed into the base of a light pole along the exit ramp that leads to Route 315.

Plains Twp. emergency crews thought they were responding to a routine crash but found a critically wounded Mr. Smith inside the car around 7:45 p.m.

"It was very unusual - to go to a scene, expecting one thing and then finding another," said Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis.

Soon after the shooting, state police arrived and conducted a room-to-room search of the hotel, giving a description of a man they were looking for, several guests said.

An autopsy conducted Saturday afternoon determined Mr. Smith's death was a homicide from multiple gunshot wounds, said Luzerne County Acting Coroner Bill Lisman. By Saturday night, police said they still had not made an arrest and released no information about a possible suspect.

Since March 2004, he was arrested 15 times and cited three times by police, mostly for drug-related offenses and thefts, court records show. Mr. Smith's death is the 11th homicide in Luzerne County in 2012.


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