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Officer Returns Fire, Injuring Suspect in Virginia Beach

Posted on: Saturday, 21 January 2006, 12:00 CST

By Matthew Roy and Steve Stone, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Jan. 21--A Norfolk police officer critically wounded a man who opened fire on him early Friday, police said, marking the sixth time since Oct. 27 that city officers have drawn their weapons and shot a suspect.

It happened after an officer attempted to stop a vehicle that ran through signals at several intersections, police said. A pursuit led into Virginia Beach, where the car crashed on Diamond Springs Road.

Its sole occupant got out and opened fire on the pursuing officer, who fired back, striking him, police said.

The officer was unhurt. The driver remained in critical condition Friday night at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital following surgery for a gunshot wound to his abdomen.

Police identified the driver as Jamerian Devonta Myles, 24, of the 600 block of Baker Road in Virginia Beach.

He has had numerous legal troubles in recent years, according to court records, which show his first name spelled as "Jameian," including traffic violations, drug offenses and weapons violations.

When Myles is released from the hospital, Virginia Beach police said he will be charged with attempted capital murder of a police officer, use of a gun in commission of a felony and possession of a gun by a convicted felon.

Friday's incident is the latest in a spate of shootings involving Norfolk police since late October that have claimed the lives of one officer and three suspects. Three other suspects also have been wounded.

Those incidents started on Oct. 27, when an officer wounded a man suspected of abducting a woman. The next day, Officer Stanley Reaves was abruptly shot and killed as he approached a man on DeBree Avenue. He was investigating a report of an armed man.

Reaves' death may have made officers more wary, said Norfolk police Chief Bruce P. Marquis. But he does not believe it to be a factor in any of the later shootings. He said that based on what is known so far, the shootings appear justified, though investigations into several of them continue.

Marquis said he is telling commanders to remind officers to remember their training regarding deadly force.

Handguns or the threat of handguns were the common denominator in several of the shootings, he said. Officers routinely respond to calls involving weapons, he said, adding that police had 904 calls for shots fired last year and another 1,295 calls involving firearms.

"It's a dangerous world the police officers have to go about their business in," he said.

Two of the shootings involved suspects who police had reason to believe were armed but who turned out not to be armed, said Officer Chris Amos, a Norfolk police spokesman. In both those cases, he said, the men, suspected armed robbers, did not obey commands given at gunpoint, he said.

Friday's shooting is being investigated by Virginia Beach police.

Rene Ball, a Virginia Beach police spokeswoman, said it was 1:22 a.m. when a Norfolk officer who has been on the force about a year spotted a car going through several intersections without stopping for signals.

The officer, whose name has not been released, followed the car, a red 1999 Chrysler 300 M Series, to North Military Highway and Northampton Boulevard, where he turned on his lights and siren. The driver refused to stop, and the chase began, turning down Northampton.

The pursuit crossed into Virginia Beach. Just after turning south onto Diamond Springs Road, the driver apparently lost control of the car, and it slammed into a fence in the 1200 block. The driver got out, started to run and then turned and opened fire on the officer with a handgun, Ball said.

The officer got out of his car and returned fire, striking the driver in the abdomen with at least one bullet .

Amos said the man fired three rounds that struck the officer's car.

The exact number of shots fired by the officer was not released. But eight evidence markers were placed around the officer's police car by investigators, each marking a shell casing from his weapon.

Investigators recovered the suspect's weapon from near where he fell, Ball said.

The officer has been placed on administrative duties, a routine procedure, pending the completion of an investigation, police said.

Reach Matthew Roy at (757) 446-2540 or matthew.roy@pilotonline.com.

Reach Steve Stone at (757) 446-2309 or steve.stone@pilotonline.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

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Source: The Virginian-Pilot

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