Two police officers in Virginia were fatally shot following a traffic stop Friday night, officials said. The suspect in the slaying is also dead.
Virginia Beach Police Department officers Cameron Girvin and Christopher Reese were pronounced dead at local hospitals early Saturday after they were shot and killed by a driver who pulled a gun on them during a tussle outside the vehicle, Police Chief Paul Neudigate said during a press conference Saturday afternoon.
Neudigate called the officers, “two heroes that went to work last night and didn’t make it home. Two heroes that paid the ultimate price for our society.”
Girvin, who had been with the department since 2020, and Reese, who joined in 2022 after serving with the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office, were aged 25 and 30, respectively, reported WTKR, a local CBS affiliate.
Police chief: ‘He executed our officers’
The officers attempted to stop a blue Hyundai Sonata with expired plates at 11:27 p.m. Friday on South Rosemont Road and the vehicle “failed to yield,” Neudigate said. They followed the car until it stopped at a dead end on Sylvan Court, he said.
When the officers approached the vehicle, the male driver initially “refused to exit the vehicle,” Neudigate said. “At some point, he complied with those requests, stepped out of the vehicle (and), almost immediately there was a tussle between the officers and this individual,” he said.
During the tussle, the driver pulled a pistol from his pocket and shot both officers. The officers did not fire shots at the suspect, Neudigate said. “Those officers fell to the ground,” he said. While the officers were defenseless on the ground, “he shot them a second time.”
The incident was captured on body cameras and in-car cameras, Neudigate said. “What I can tell you from the video is after he executed our officers, he calmly walked away.”
Emergency personnel and other responding police officers attempted lifesaving measures upon arrival. Officer Reese was pronounced dead at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital just after midnight, Neudigate said. Officer Girvin was pronounced dead at about 4:30 a.m. Saturday at Virginia Beach General Hospital. Family and friends were with both officers at their respective hospitals, he said.
Suspect found dead at nearby apartment complex
In searching for the suspect, police found a man with a fatal gunshot wound to the head in a shed behind a nearby apartment complex. The man, identified as John McCoy III, 42, of Virginia Beach, died from the wounds, Neudigate said.
McCoy had one felony conviction in 2009, Neudigate said. Having a firearm would be another felony count, he said. “Whether that would be enough for him to decide to take this grievous act, I can’t tell you.”
Police do not expect to file charges against a passenger who was in the vehicle.
Police department, community mourns fallen officers
“I’m gonna be quite honest, we’re all hurting,” Neudigate said. “We’ve got an officer that is 25 years old, another one that is 30, with such a future ahead of them, senselessly taken.”
At the outset of the press conference, Mayor Bobby Dyer said, “Today our city is heartbroken,” and asked for a moment of silence for the fallen officers. “No words can ease the pain and loss.”
“Our city is grieving,” the Virginia Beach Police Department said in a statement. “Two brave police officers who dedicated their lives to protecting this community died in the line of duty.”
“Our hearts are heavy today as we mourn the loss of two heroic Virginia Beach police officers who were tragically killed in the line of duty last night. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families, the Virginia Beach police department, and the law enforcement community,” Rep. Jen Kiggins, whose district in Congress includes Virginia Beach, said.
The sheriff’s office in neighboring Norfolk said the news was “heartbreaking.”
“We send our prayers to the officers’ families, our brothers and sisters at @VBPD, and everyone affected by this tragic situation,” the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office said in a post to X.
