A man who fired a few rounds at police officers in the small town of Chester, Virginia on Wednesday, Dec. 27, and then barricaded himself in his home was found dead by police officers later that day.
Police received a call at 10:34 a.m. about a man firing a gun who had barricaded himself in his home on the 300 block of Sunset Boulevard, behind the Food Lion supermarket, police Lt. Peter Cimbal told The Richmond Times-Dispatch.
When officers arrived they saw a woman standing in the driveway and man at the door of the house.
After more than two hours of unsuccessful attempts to contact the shooter, police sent a robot with a camera to look into the home, ABC WRIC Channel 8 reported.
Shortly before 1 p.m., the camera showed a person lying motionless on the floor inside the home. Officers entered the dwelling and found the man dead, according to Police Chief Daniel Kelly.
It is not yet certain if the man took his own life or was shot by a police officer, Kelly told the Times-Dispatch.
Jim Winegar lives on the 300 block of Bermuda Hundred Road, about 500 feet from the scene of the incident. He told the Times-Dispatch that his daughter-in-law called around 11 a.m. and told him that the area was swarming with police.
“She said, ‘Y’all be safe,'” he recalled.
“I came out in the yard,” Winegar continued. “The cops were here. ... They came up to my fence and said, ‘Get back in your house. We got a situation over here.’ So I went in my house.”
Police are still investigating. They urge anyone with information to call Chesterfield County Police Department at (804) 748-1251 or Crime Solvers at 748-0660 or through the P3 app.
An aerial view of the 300 block of Sunset Boulevard in Chester, Va. (Bing Maps screenshot)
