RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — When a black man was fatally shot by Richmond police in an alley, some residents believed it was the latest example of an overaggressive police force.
But within hours, the city’s police chief released a detailed account of what happened, defended his officers’ actions and credited the deceased man’s mother with pacifying angry neighbors.
“She was the angel,” Chief Alfred Durham said Thursday. “She calmed that community.”
Durham said 20-year-old Keshawn Hargrove was killed by a single gunshot Wednesday. Officer Ryan Bailey was shot in the arm and wounded.
Bailey and officer Jacob DeBoard had responded to a report of an armed man, the chief said, and Hargrove fled when the officers approached him.