Man opens fire on state troopers while trying to avoid arrest – manages to accidentally shoot and kill himself.
Man opens fire on state troopers while trying to avoid arrest – manages to accidentally shoot and kill himself.
|August 17, 2020 |Law Enforcement Today
A Virginia man who fired shots at state troopers in an attempt to avoid arrest, instead hit and killed himself.
In the morning hours of August 13th, in an interview with local news outlet 13 News Now, a Virginia state police spokesperson identified the man as 23-year-old Coleman Lamar Sample.
In an earlier press release, State Police said the shooting happened in Virginia Beach just after 10 p.m. Wednesday night, August 12th, when a trooper tried to stop Sample for driving recklessly on westbound I-264.
Police reportedly clocked Sample going 92 mph in a 55 mph zone. When they tried to pull him over, they said he refused to stop his car.
Instead, Coleman led troopers off I-264 onto Military Highway and then back onto the interstate. From there, he reportedly sped into the parking lot of an apartment complex and hit a car.
That’s where state troopers say Coleman then got out and tried to take off on foot. He did not get far before troopers caught up to him.
When they tried to make the arrest, he allegedly pulled a gun and started firing. Police said one of the bullets hit him and he died at the scene.
Renters at the apartment complex described the moments after the gunfire ended and the scene went silent:
“I didn’t hear any struggle, so when I heard the last shot he got completely quiet, like there was no yelling. I didn’t hear like any back-and-forth you know put your hands up drop your weapon.”
It is at least the third time this year a traffic stop or an attempted arrest escalated to gunfire in the coastal city.
Local news station WTKR reported in February on a deadly officer involved shooting.
The Virginia Beach Police, U.S. Marshals, and Montgomery County, Maryland Police Department were working together to arrest a fugitive wanted for a 1992 murder in Maryland.
Virginia Beach Police say the wanted man pulled a handgun, and officers fired in response. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Neighbors caught the confrontation on cell phone video. The eight-minute long video captures officers first asking the suspect to put the gun down, and then pleading with him for several minutes before the negotiations ended in gunfire.
No officers were hurt.
In March, an attempt to serve a felony warrant escalated to an officer involved shooting as well.
Police told WTKR that they were attempting to serve the warrant on a Friday morning at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront and “engaged the suspect” in the area. Shots were fired and the suspect was fatally wounded. Officers say they immediately began rescue efforts, but the man died at the scene.
No officers were hurt in the March incident either.