Staff photo by Duane Halt Police officers lead Ronnell Leveme Jackson away from his home in Winston-Salem Gunman captive, hostage free after TV station 'apologizes' By ED WILLIAMS Staff Writer A gunman charged with killing a Winston-Salem television executive Tuesday surrendered himself and a female hostage after another TV station released a bogus broadcast apologizing to the suspect for “spying” on him through lus televi sion. Ronnell Leveme Jackson. 32. of 2120 E. 12th Street, Winston-Sa lem. surrendered to police at 4:40 p.m. and was led from his great aunt’s house, where he had been liv ing and had held police at bay since 10:30 a_m. Tuesday. Jackson was charged with first- degree murder in the shooting death of William Norbert Rismiller. 48, general sales manager at WJTM-TV. Channel 45 station in W’inston-Salem. He also was charged with first-degree kidnap ping in the taking of the hostage. Jackson was being held in the For- svth Countv Jail in Winston-Salem. No bond had been set late Tuesday night. Rismiller was shot about 10 a.m. in the Channel 45 studio at 3500 Myer Lee Drive, near Interstate 40 and Linville Road, police said. The TV sales manager was taken to North Carolina Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem and died at 12:10 p.m. while under treatment for a wound to the upper abdomen. Police said that after the shoot ing, Jackson took Michelle Holland, a secretary at the station, hostage at gunpoint and drove to his great aunt’s house. Jackson, according to police, left his car at the TV station and forced Holland to drive her car to the house. Police who responded to a report of Rismiller’s shooting checked the suspect’s car. Information from the license tag led them to the 2120 E. 12th St. address where Holland was being held hostage. Shortly before 11 a.m., as police arrived at the suspect’s home. Jack- son allowed his great aunt, Theo Wingate Nelson, and his 12-year-old son Michael Jackson, to leave the house unharmed. Police said they established con tact with the suspect by telephone early Tuesday 5 afternoon. Officers said they talked to both Jackson and the hostage and learned that he was armed with a 9 mm pistoL At one point — at approximately 3:15 p.m. — the suspect fired a warning shot to “just to let us know he was still there and that he was serious,” Lew Powell. Winston-Sa lem police chief, said. Powell said Jackson agreed to surrender if WXII. Channel 12. would broadcast a public apology for “spying on him.” Jackson made 2 similar demand of Channel 45 short ly before Rismiller wras shot. (See Killing. AT)