A woman believed to be “70ish” was killed this morning at Pocahontas State Park in an officer‑involved shooting.
Chesterfield Police Chief Frank Carpenter said the department received a call from Woodpecker Road at 6:56 a.m. for “a subject in crisis armed with a weapon.”
The call was made by a family member who had been sleeping and woke up to find that the woman was gone and a gun that was in the house was gone.
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Carpenter said police immediately began canvassing the area, an effort that included using drones. At 9 a.m., the woman came out of the woods with the weapon in hand and “within seconds” weapons were discharged.
The chief estimated that the officers were about 30–40 feet away from the woman when she was shot.
Carpenter was unable to say whether the woman fired or made threatening gestures, stating, “It is still under investigation what transpired.”
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However, he disclosed that the two officers involved were specialized in CIT (Crisis Intervention Training).
“They responded to the scene in hopes of de-escalating the situation, and of course they ended up having to discharge their firearms,” the chief said.
Carpenter also stated that both officers are on “critical incident leave,” which suggests they both fired their weapons, but he couldn’t say for certain as of the press conference this morning.
A handgun was recovered alongside the victim, and “based on initial indication, the firearm was loaded,” the chief said.
No officers were injured. The woman died at the scene, which was on state park property, Scott Vantrease, chief of public safety and law enforcement for Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation confirmed.
When asked about indications of where the woman may have been headed, the chief said, “Nothing in the house, at this time, that I’m willing to share that would indicate that she was going anywhere in particular, other than the fact that something was written down on a piece of paper.”
Carpenter said the officers involved were wearing bodycams and footage was being downloaded for review earlier today. However, he said that footage is the property of the Chesterfield Police Department and it won’t be released.