DEA AGENT CHARGED IN VA. SHOOTING

HAMPTON, Va. (AP) An off-duty federal Drug Enforcement
Administration agent was charged in a parking lot shooting that
wounded two men, one critically.

Joseph Armento, 34, was charged with shooting into an occupied vehicle
and unlawful wounding, police said. He was expected to surrender to
police Tuesday, Sgt. Jeff Walden said.

The incident early Thursday morning started when three men leaving a
bar got into an argument with Armento and two other off-duty DEA agents.

Joey Turk said that when he saw that Armento and his friends were
armed, he retrieved a weapon from a friend's truck and put it on the
hood. That's when Armento opened fire, Turk said.

Armento was the only one to fire, police said.

Jason Temple, 21, was struck in the chest, the bullet piercing a lung
and passing within an inch of his heart. He was in critical condition
Sunday at Riverside Regional Medical Center. A hospital spokeswoman
said his family asked that no updated information on his condition be
released.

Turk, 20, was hit in the upper left arm. He was treated and
released.

Turk said he had seen Armento and his two companions drinking in the
bar before the shooting.

`When we walked out of the bar, we looked at them, and one of them
said, `What are you looking at?" Turk said. He said Temple answered
back with the same line.

DEA officials said the shooting was under investigation.