RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A stabbing suspect was shot and killed by a Richmond Police officer following an apparent domestic dispute on the outskirts of the city’s Fan District Wednesday morning.
Richmond Police said they were called to the 2000 block of Cary Street at 11: 01 a.m. for a reported domestic incident in progress, described as a man with a knife. When they arrived, officers were directed to a house in the middle of the block, according to a release from Richmond Police.
The officers heard commotion through the door of the residence and, after entering, found an adult male — later identified as 33-year-old Anthony M. Edwards, of Chesterfield — stabbing a woman. Another victim, an adult male suffering from apparent stab wounds, was also in the home.
A suspect inside was armed with a knife and refused multiple orders to drop his weapon as he “continued to stab the woman,” according to police. After he failed to comply, the suspect was shot by the officers multiple times.
“He was given orders several times to drop the weapon,” Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham told 8News. “After continuously asking the individual, or directing him to drop the weapon, he failed to do so. Officers discharged their weapons, their firearms. striking him several times about the body.”
The man was pronounced dead after being transported to a local hospital.
The two victims inside the residence were taken to VCU Medical Center for treatment. A third victim, identified as an adult female, took herself to a local hospital for treatment.
All three victims are expected to recover, Richmond Police said in a release. They all knew their attacker, who was a former boyfriend of one of the female victims.
A heavy police presence shut down a portion of Cary Street, between Shields and Meadow streets, as investigators worked the scene.
The two Richmond officers who responded to the scene have been put on administrative leave. The officers were later identified as Thomas Davis and David Torrence. Both officers have been with RPD for 21 years.
According to Richmond Police, both officers discharged their weapons at the scene but police are unaware at this time whether or not one or both officers struck the stabbing suspect.
While the investigation is in its preliminary stages, authorities believe the incident began when the man with the knife tried to get inside the home on West Cary Street. The three victims left the home in an attempt to flee from the attacker.
The woman, along with the two others, went to a convenience store a half block away from the house. The man followed the three back to the store and “forced the woman back up the sidewalk and into the house,” the release from Richmond Police said.
Police said the incident ‘appeared’ to be domestic-related. 8News spoke with Shyvida Felder, a neighbor who called police during the incident.
“They came running out the front of the house with no socks and shoes and just running down there to the store,” Felder said. “They were just like ‘help, help he’s crazy,’ and then I called the police. At first, he was outside the house and busted the back window open and I guess climbed through and chased them down there.”
“He didn’t say much really, he just looked very angry and upset,” Felder explained.
Felder told 8News that after the shots were fired, she went to the back of the home and saw the suspect and the victims.
“The male that stabbed the woman laid there,” she said. “The lady laid there and the older guy laid over by the door stabbed in the back. I don’t understand his rage or his anger to do anything like that.”
An investigation into the circumstances of the incident and shooting is underway by the Richmond Police’s Force Investigation Team (FIT). After interviewing the officers involved, witnesses and reviewing evidence, including the officer’s body-worn camera footage, a report will be given to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
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