RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Two police officers were justified in returning gunfire and killing a suspect who shot at them first during a foot chase down an alley, the city's police chief said Thursday.
Chief Alfred Durham said at a news conference it was not a racially-charged shootout as some in the community have suggested. The suspect, a 20-year-old black man, was a convicted felon and a "person of interest" in a July 23 assault, Durham said. One of the officers is black and the other is white.
"This is not Ferguson," the chief said, referring to the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white officer a year ago in Ferguson. The officer was cleared in that case, but the shooting set off protests, unrest and nationwide scrutiny of police officers' treatment of blacks.
In the Richmond shooting Wednesday night, officers Ryan Bailey and Jacob DeBoard responded to a report of an armed man in the Fan District, so named because the shape of the street grid. The Fan is known for its historic row homes, cafes, Virginia Commonwealth University and the city's famous Monument Avenue, which features statues of Confederate heroes.
When police approached the suspect, Keshawn Hargrove, he fled, police said. As the officers chased him, one witness said Hargrove fired over his shoulder.
The officers fired at Hargrove and he was killed by a single gunshot, Durham said. It's not clear which officer fired the fatal shot.
"My officers did what they had to do," the chief said.
The chief said results of an internal investigation will be turned over to the Richmond prosecutor, who will determine whether the officers acted appropriately. That could take 30 to 45 days, Durham said. Meanwhile, Bailey and DeBoard have been placed on paid administrative leave.
Bailey, who is black, was wounded in the arm but is expected to recover fully.
A witness to Wednesday's shooting told the Richmond Times-Dispatch after one officer was wounded, the other one shot the suspect.
Lois G. Ambriz, who was working a construction job in the area, said he didn't see who fired first but heard the officer "screaming really bad" after he was shot.
Ambriz said the suspect ran about 50 feet, firing shots over his shoulder, and was shot by the second officer. He estimated the incident lasted less than a minute and that at least 15 shots were fired.
It was Richmond's first fatal police shooting since 2010, police spokesman Gene Lepley said.
Durham faced an angry crowd of about three dozen people, most of them black, at the shooting scene on Wednesday night. The crowd demanded answers and questioned whether police used too much force.
Lenora Gaither was one of those in the crowd.
"There's too much of this going on," said Gaither, who suggested police had been keeping a close eye on Hargrove because of his criminal record. Richmond Circuit Court records show Hargrove pleaded guilty to malicious wounding and possession of a firearm by a felon in 2010. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
Durham said he understood why residents were upset, but he strenuously objected to suggestions he employs "rogue" officers.
"We don't come to work to shoot people," the chief said.
Durham said while people demanded immediate answers about the shooting by one of his officers, when someone is shot in one of the city's housing projects "we can't get answers" from potential witnesses. "That's not fair," he said.