Virginia police shoot, kill man after armed confrontation, BCA investigates

A morning call near 2nd Avenue South in Virginia turned deadly when police said a man in a ski mask refused repeated commands, pointed what appeared to be a handgun at officers, and was shot by one of them at about 8:20 a.m. Friday.

Virginia Police Chief Nicole Mattson said officers were responding to reports of the armed man when they reached the scene and ordered him to drop the weapon. Police said he ignored those commands and pointed the object at officers before one officer fired. Officers then gave first aid at the scene and the man was taken by ambulance to Virginia Essentia ER, where he was pronounced dead.

No officers were physically injured. Mattson said the officers involved were placed on critical incident leave, which she described as standard procedure after a shooting. Body-worn cameras were activated during the encounter, giving investigators a video record of the moments leading up to the gunfire.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has taken over the investigation, with agents and crime scene personnel examining the use-of-force incident. For Virginia residents, that means the case will be reviewed outside the local police department, with state investigators collecting the scene evidence, reviewing the body camera footage and reconstructing what happened before, during and after the shooting. The BCA said more information will be released after its preliminary investigation is complete.

A witness told WDIO the man had been seen in the area the night before and again Friday morning. The witness said they heard what sounded like a couple of shots before seeing police with guns drawn and later rendering aid. The witness also said the timing was especially unsettling because it happened before school-related traffic would have been in the area.

Officials have not released the man’s identity or said what led him to be in the neighborhood with the object police believed was a handgun. The Virginia Police Department says its headquarters is at 327 First Street South and that its mission is to work with individuals, groups and other agencies to provide professional and ethical service. Minnesota’s Crime Data Explorer also tracks use-of-force incidents statewide, underscoring how closely cases like this are watched beyond the Iron Range.