The Virginian-Pilot
©
Portsmouth police working on a drug case shot and killed two men Thursday night in Chesapeake after one of the men drove a car into an officer and two police cars, Chesapeake police said.
Demetrius D. Edens, 28, of Chesapeake, and Darren S. Wilson, 25, of Virginia Beach, were killed, and an officer was injured by the men's vehicle, police said.
The shooting was the third fatal shooting this year by Portsmouth police.
Chesapeake police released scant, and initially contradictory, details of what happened, and Portsmouth police referred questions to Chesapeake.
Chesapeake police said they were called at 11:24 p.m. Thursday to the 3800 block of Schooner Trail. There, Portsmouth police officers said they had tried to arrest two men in a car during a drug investigation. The man driving the vehicle struck the police cars and the officer, police said.
Police fired at the men, killing the driver, identified as Edens. The passenger, Wilson, was taken to Maryview Medical Center in Portsmouth and died shortly after arrival, according to a news release.
The officer who was hit by the vehicle, a 2009 Chevrolet, was treated at a hospital and released.
Officers recovered 6 ounces of cocaine from the Chevy, Chesapeake police said. It was not clear how the investigation took the Portsmouth police into Chesapeake.
Chesapeake police initially said, at 12:50 a.m. Friday, that the Portsmouth officers were returning fire from the men.
"The preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects exited the vehicle and fired upon the Portsmouth Police officers. Portsmouth Police exchanged fire, killing one suspect," the statement said.
Chesapeake police issued a corrected statement about 6:18 a.m. Friday that did not say the men fired at officers.
Officer Dorienne Boykin, a spokeswoman for Chesapeake police, said police initially thought there was an exchange of gunfire. But further investigation showed there was no exchange.
Two Portsmouth officers involved in the incident have been placed on administrative assignment, Police Chief Edward G. Hargis said.
Portsmouth police will do an administrative investigation while Chesapeake police investigate the shooting, he said.
Hargis said he did not want to comment on the shooting while the case is being investigated by Chesapeake police.
Schooner Trail is in a subdivision of older townhouses called Holly Cove.
Darryl Dunmore, 23, lives in the neighborhood and said he was standing outside with others on Schooner Trail when the men were shot.
He said the men parked in a blue Chevy. Then unmarked police cars parked around them and boxed in the car.
Dunmore said he watched from the driver's side of the Chevy. A police Impala parked at an angle in front of the Chevy and two SUVs pulled up behind it, Dunmore said.
Police wearing plain clothes and vests got out and shouted commands to the men in the car, he said. The driver of the Chevy tried to drive the car but was blocked in and rammed the Impala, Dunmore said.
He said he then heard two bursts of rapid gunfire.
"(Police) were shooting into the car," he said.
He saw police pull both men from the car and handcuff them, he said.
The driver was on his back with blood coming from his mouth trying to talk, Dun-more said.
"There were plenty of people here that got a good look," he said.
The shooting was the third fatal one in 2009 involving Portsmouth officers.
On Feb. 26, Marshall Franklin Sr. was shot and killed after a five-hour standoff at his Churchland home, during which he shot and injured two police officers. The shooting came after a mental health worker and police escort went to Franklin's home; his family had requested a mental health evaluation.
Kenji Lee Danzy, 30, of Newport News was shot numerous times Jan. 9 after Portsmouth officers chased his car into Norfolk. In that case officers boxed in the suspect's vehicle and ordered him to stop.
But Danzy backed into an unmarked Portsmouth police car, climbing up onto its hood, and knocked down a uniformed officer before officers fired at him, according to findings of the Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.
In the Danzy shooting, the commonwealth's attorney determined that the use of deadly force was justified.
Portsmouth police wounded a man on Brighton Street in February after a slow-speed chase. Police said the man motioned "as if he had a weapon" and an officer shot him in the midsection.
Pilot writer Shawn Day contributed to this report.
Patrick Wilson, (757) 446-2957, patrick.wilson@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
The Loyal-1
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.
Old time is still a flying
And that same flower that smiles today
tomorrow will be a dying.
Interpretation: Too many idiots out there in the world, my friend. Don't waste too much of our precious time on earth trying to unlock brain cells that don't exist. Life is too short.
Response to Joewhateveryouare
Thankfully, with the criteria you listed to become a police officer you are not eligible either.
resopnse to joe69whatever
Death Wish? Maybe another one of your favorite movies is Conspiracy Theory? Not all cops are trigger happy and corrupt. Sometimes they actually do something right.You watch too much t.v. and maybe you are another one of the experts who gets their information from the media? Again blame the cops for keeping themselves alive then make it some kind of coverup instead of blaming the suspects actions, a poor judicial system or a society that enables crime and a liberal media glorifies violence on one hand then reviles it on the other. No wonder you are confused.MOVIES..AND..TV..COP..SHOWS..ARE..FICTIONAL..NOT REAL.
Anold Wiseman
Oh, also thanks for letting everyone know that actors don't really die in police shows, that's a revelation. Ever been to the Police Memorial in D.C.? Its walls are full of the names of brave, heroic and"arrogant cops" like the ones who were involved in the incident in Chesapeake the other night. But what do I know? I'm probably not really a cop anyway.
Response to Anold Wiseman
I appreciate that you knowledge of police work and my psyche are based on a television show and based on that expertise I should get another job so I won't hurt any "innocent" people.Furtermore I could care less if you believe I'm an LEO or not. You live in your protected world and are relatively safe because of the brothers and sisters in blue. So spare everyone you your uninformed insults and go on with your protected life. I am glad that there are "arrogant" police officers out there who put their lives on the line for you.
Please wait
Are you serious! Let me get this right, you think the police should stop chasing criminals because they went into Chesapeake? Wait, stop, call, lol
The Portsmouth Police make thousands of arrest a year and it is a shame that violence across the nation is up. The police deal with violence against themselves and others everyday. The difference in this case is that these officers were well trained and did not hesistate.
Good shoot, bad shoot will be determined at the conclusion of the investigation.
You are right little sheep, the sheep dog and the wolf both have teeth, sleep tight.
To shana@hollycove
Did you really read what you wrote......No police officer that I know wants to take someones life, but if their life is in danger they are going to do what they need to do to go home at night and most will sleep just fine at night. If someone tries to run you down with a car, they are a lunatic. A vehicle is a deadly weapon you dont just say stop we are going to arrest you and put you on trial. Hopefully, they will listen to your warnings, but if they dont listen you take it to the next level to protect yourself and your fellow officers. You must condone drug dealing or you would not be upset. I like how you can bash us when you dont like what we do or how things turned out, but when you need or help we quickly become your best friend in the world. Please join the force and protect your own neighborhood. You will not make it a week.....
To Anold Wiseman
First I want to say my loved ones would not be running from the police and attempting to strike them with a car, so now that we have that cleared up I will move on. Second, if we chase someone from one city to another we do attempt to hand the case off to the other city, but if this does not take place you can not call time out and wait. You deal with the hand these criminals deal you. You did not make the criminal run from you or try and kill you, but you are sure going to deal with it when you are confronted with the danger. Sorry someone had to lose their life, but after reading the story the right people are getting buried and the good guys went home to their families. If you know so much please put in your application to join the force or sign up for a ride along and you will have a change of heart after one night.
Please, for the sake and
Please, for the sake and safety of everyone out there, turn in your gun and badge before some innocent person gets hurt or killed unjustifiably (i.e., if you really are an LEO). You sound a lot like the fictional Officer John Cooper of Southland on NBC, where in the show a “brother in blue” died because of Cooper’s arrogance; except, at the end of the show, all of the actors get to get up and go home. We appreciate the work that all police officers do to help to keep us safe, and we realize the dangers that you face every day. And just like you, we, too, want to be able to return home after a hard night of work or partying, or whatever reason that we have for being out and about. The last thing that we need is an officer to play judge, jury, and executioner. To answer your question, no, I’ve never been nearly ran over by a car, spit on, or assaulted, but then again, I didn'g choose to be a LEO. If this gets to be too much for you, maybe a career change is in order. I hear that the post office is hiring....
NO axe to grind...............
After living in new york for 40 years,then here for over 12,there is a major difference between there an here,I have been in many bad spots,being white growing up in black (ENY Brookyn,where Death Wish 3 was filmed)town was tough,I was shot at,robbed a few times,had to run to and from school when I wasnt lucky enough to get a ride from a teacher,a common statement there is "anything I find,I keep",saw a few people get killed,yeh,new york is a tough town,a deadly one at that,but this place here,is in a class all by itself,just as the mafia and the police covered up for each other,so it will be here also,freedom of speech? yup, as long as you dont say anything the other party dont wanna hear,HAH!The NYPD has their act together............dont worry,God takes ONLY those that are called ...........there are NO UNtimely deaths................when its your time,your time is up.........and there seems to be alot more times up each year here........