NORFOLK, Virginia – Police officers take an oath to protect and serve, but what happens when a shooting occurs?
After a series of incidents in Hampton Roads where police officers shot people this summer, News 3 spoke with one of our prosecutors about transparency and trends.
The most recent shooting between police and a private citizen occurred on Tuesday.
Watch: Suspect in custody after shooting involving Virginia Beach police officer
Suspect named in police-involved shooting in Virginia Beach
One of the incidents occurred in Virginia Beach at the corner of Bonney Road and Trace Court. According to police, an 18-year-old pointed a gun at them and shots were fired.
No one was injured and the juvenile suspect is in custody, but that is not always the outcome.
Also on Tuesday, officers shot and killed a man they said fired at police in Bertie County, North Carolina.
Watch: Deputies shoot man who allegedly opened fire on police officers in Bertie County
Deputies shoot man who allegedly opened fire on police officers in Bertie County
Two weeks ago, Newport News police killed a man after he allegedly robbed a bank with a gun and threatened police officers. Three weeks ago, Virginia Beach police killed a man after he allegedly attacked, killed and injured other people in a home. A month ago, Norfolk police said a man shot at an officer during a child welfare call before police shot him.
News 3 contacted police in the seven cities to find out the numbers so far this year.
Norfolk and Newport News have had more cases of police shooting people in incidents involving weapons. Norfolk and Newport News have each had four cases since the beginning of the year. Virginia Beach follows with three cases and Suffolk with two. Portsmouth, Hampton and Chesapeake have zero cases. Last year, Virginia Beach led the way with four cases, followed by Portsmouth and Hampton with two and Newport News and Suffolk with one case. Last year, Chesapeake and Norfolk had no cases.
Watch: Newport News police shoot suspect in armed bank robbery on Jefferson Avenue.
Newport News police shoot suspect in armed bank robbery on Jefferson Avenue.
“We’ve seen an increase in police-involved shootings in some years and a decrease in others. We’ve seen a national increase in numbers in recent years, but at the individual city level, things are different and there’s no general trend,” said Norfolk District Attorney Ramin Fatehi.
News 3 asked Fatehi if there is a common thread.
“It would be irresponsible to talk about the cases I’m currently reviewing, but I can tell you generally that what I’ve seen and what I’ve seen in the press conferences on previous police-involved shootings is the common thread: Someone shoots a police officer, threatens a police officer with deadly force or threatens someone else with deadly force and the police officers have responded.”
Watch: Norfolk police officer hit ‘multiple times’ in shootout with suspect on Arcadia Street
NPD: Norfolk police officer hit ‘multiple times’ in shootout with suspect on Arcadia Street
However, he said that in cases like these, transparency is of utmost importance.
“Just because an officer does the right thing most of the time doesn’t mean people can trust him to do it all the time,” Fatehi said. “That doesn’t erase Ferguson, it doesn’t erase Minneapolis, it doesn’t erase the spectacular and absolutely true cases of police brutality and police violence.”
He explained that investigations can vary by jurisdiction, but he stressed that investigations are independent. He said in Norfolk, state police are involved and information is released as quickly as possible if it does not jeopardize criminal proceedings. However, he added that the first information released does not always tell the whole story.
“Whatever the initial information that comes out is, it’s never going to tell the whole story. Without the bigger picture, it can look like one thing and turn out to be something else entirely,” Fatehi said. “So trust, verify, be patient, let the state police do their job like they do in Norfolk, let them come to me and hear the whole story. Then use that information to make the case for whatever led to this confrontation.”
