Virginia State Police are investigating an officer-involved shooting that left a man dead after a traffic stop on I-64 in Augusta County Thursday, October 16.
At 7:30pm, a trooper stopped a Ford Windstar minivan that was traveling east on the interstate near the 89 mile marker, police said in a press release. While the trooper was obtaining the information of the driver, the man at the wheel displayed a firearm, and the trooper retreated to take cover, police said.
“Just as the trooper reached his car, a female juvenile passenger jumped out of the minivan screaming,” the police press release reads. “The trooper ran to her aid and brought her back to his patrol car so she would be out of harm’s way.”
That’s when the shooting started. Police did not specify who shot first, only that “shots were fired by both the driver and trooper.”
The driver died at the scene, police said, and his remains have been transported to the Office of the Medical Examiner in Roanoke for autopsy. The Virginia State Police’s internal police shooting team is investigating the incident. Police have said they will release more information on the shooting today.