TAZEWELL -- (AP) A dispute in a rural Southwest Virginia Wal-Mart
parking lot crowded with holiday shoppers turned violent, with one
person throwing a punch and another responding by cutting the man with a
knife and brandishing a rifle.

Both men were charged Thursday after the altercation in the parking lot
of a Wal-Mart in Tazewell County that sent panicked shoppers scattering,
the sheriff's office said Friday.

Christopher Jackson, 35, was waiting for another shopper to leave a
parking space when Ronnie Sharp, 61, began sounding his horn behind
Jackson's vehicle, the sheriff's office said.

Sheriff Brian Hieatt said Jackson got out of his vehicle and confronted
Sharp, punching him, and Sharp responded by severely cutting Jackson on
the arm with a knife and pulling out a rifle. The rifle was not loaded.

Sharp was charged with malicious wounding and brandishing a firearm.
Jackson was charged with disorderly conduct and assault and battery.

Both men were held at the Southwest Regional Jail in Tazewell County
until family members paid $5,000 bond each for their release. Jackson
was treated for the knife wound before he was taken to the jail They are
scheduled to be arraigned on the charges next week.

Neither man has an attorney, Hieatt said.

Hieatt said the parking lot in Claypool Hill, between the towns of
Tazewell and Richlands, was crowded and shoppers were jockeying for
spaces from other retail outlets. He said officers responded almost
immediately to the scene because Wal-Mart, anticipating a shopping
frenzy, had hired some of his deputies.

The altercation had caused a panic in the parking lot, as shoppers fled
the violence, he said.

(There are reports of fights breaking out in Wal-Mart stores around the
country. What could be more in the spirit of the season?)

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