ARMED, DANGEROUS

A man wearing a mask shot a woman in the leg in James City County — and he is still on the loose.

A woman was shot in the leg after being grabbed by a masked stranger on a residential James City County street Thursday afternoon, police said.

A 911 call came in at 12:08 p.m. about a shooting at Adams Road and Foley Drive, police said. That’s near the York County line, between Merrimac Trail and Penniman Road.

The 20-year-old woman told police she was walking on Adams Road, near the Gibson’s Mobile Home Park, “when she realized someone was behind her,” James City Police spokeswoman Stephanie Williams said in a news release.

“She stated that she began to walk more quickly, but the person behind her was getting closer to her,” the release stated.

The man — dressed all in black and wearing a mask and gloves — grabbed the woman from behind, and she fell to the ground, police said.

“She struggled with the suspect, and noticed that he was armed with a pocketknife,” police said. “She was able to break free when he pulled a small, dark handgun out and shot her in the lower left leg,” before running away.

The woman was treated at Riverside Regional Medical Center, then released.

Shelley Ward, a spokeswoman for the York-Poquoson sheriff’s office, said York deputies assisted James City County police in canvassing the neighborhood looking for the gunman.

Deputies brought a tracking German Shepherd, “Saber,” in an attempt to find him. “The canine led the track from (Adams Road and Foley Drive) to a backyard in the 1100 block of Stewart Drive,” just over the line in York County, Ward said.

But the shooter wasn’t there, and Ward said the dog stopped tracking a scent.

James City Deputy Police Chief Steve Rubino said Thursday afternoon that officers are still on the lookout for the man but are no longer actively combing the neighborhood.

Police described him as a black male of unknown age, about 5-foot-11, between 150 to 170 pounds and wearing black pants, wearing a black pullover hoodie, a black scarf-style mask and “royal blue winter-type gloves.”

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the James City County Police at 757-2531800. Callers may also call the Crime Line, at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP, or submit tips online at p3tips.com.

Callers to the Crime Line and P3 Tips users may remain anonymous, do not have to testify in court and may be eligible for a cash reward up to $1,000.