Virginia Beach police not saying much after man dies of gunshot wound in hourslong standoff
A man died of a gunshot wound inside a Lake Placid neighborhood home after an hourslong standoff and exchange of gunfire with Virginia Beach police Monday night.
Police provided limited information about the investigation Tuesday, and it remained unclear if the man died from police gunfire or a self-inflicted gunshot.
Officers responded to a home in the 1900 block of Decathlon Drive around 9:30 p.m. for a call about a person threatening himself and others, according to a release from the department.
Police arrived at the scene and established a dialogue with the man inside a house. Police said he was visibly armed with a shotgun that he would place under his chin.
It was hours later, sometime after 1 a.m., neighbors described hearing gunfire.
Police said the standoff ended with an exchange of gunfire. According to the release, police fired “less-lethal munitions” at the man, who then shot at police. Police returned fire.
After a SWAT team arrived, police entered the house and found the man inside the front door, dead with a bullet wound. Police have not released the man’s name.
It was unclear how many officers fired their service weapons but police said in a statement that none of the involved officers were injured.
A Virginia Beach police spokesperson did not respond to requests for more information Tuesday except to issue a statement indicating more details would be released at a later time.
“We have a lot of evidence to comb through before we can provide any more information than we have already given,” police spokesperson Jody Saunders said in an email Tuesday afternoon.
The initial statement from police did not address whether anyone was in the home with the man, the type of “less-lethal munitions” used in by police, or whether any officers are on leave or administrative duty while the shooting is being investigated.
Decathlon Drive, a residential street with detached homes tucked into the Lake Placid neighborhood, remained closed to through traffic late Tuesday morning as police continued to gather evidence from the scene. Yellow evidence placards littered the roadway in front of the two-story home at the center of the investigation.
A neighbor, who asked not to be identified to protect her privacy, stepped out of her house Tuesday morning to watch police and investigators milling behind crime scene tape across the street. She described watching the standoff through her front window, and said a woman exited the home and then appeared to be talking with police. It was 1:13 a.m. when she said she heard gunshots that sounded “just like fireworks.”
She said the people who lived in the home — a husband, a wife and their three children — had been there for 20 years.
“They were never any trouble. They were just a nice family,” she said. “This has always been a good neighborhood with kids playing. It’s safe.”
Another neighbor who was walking his dog through the neighborhood Tuesday morning said he thought there was a fire somewhere Monday night, based on the lights and the sirens in his neighborhood. Then, he heard gunshots.
The neighbor, who asked not to be identified to protect his privacy, described the people who lived at the home as “quiet people.”
“There were times I wouldn’t know if anyone lived there, except for seeing them get into their cars,” he said.
Cianna Morales, 757-957-1304, cianna.morales@virginiamedia.com
