By james art 
Virginia Beach – Officers Cameron Girwin and Christopher Reese worked with the change of the midnight traffic patrol late on Friday night when they noticed a car with an expired plate and tried to download it.
After the driver of Blue Hyundai Sonata failed to stop, the officers followed the vehicle at a city house complex near the intersection of Lynnhaven Parkway and Wendfield Drive in the Green Running area, according to Virginia Police Police Police.
Both officers approached the car and asked the driver to get out, Nadgiga said. The man refused at the beginning, but eventually got out. He began to argue with them and broke out “Tus”, the chief said. This ended moments later when the man pulled a gun out of his pocket and shot both officers.
“The officers fell to the ground,” Nadgiga said. “While on earth, defenseless, he shot them every second time.”
The shooting was captured by the cameras worn by the body of the officers, as well as by a camera mounted on the dashboard in their police cruiser, the chief said.
In the footage, the man, later identified as 42-year-old John Lee McCoy III, is seen to move quietly, Nadgiga said. His body was found in a nearby shed with a firearm in his head. The boss said it was believed that the wound was self -inflicted. He also said there was a passenger in McCoy’s car, but this man would not be blamed.
The 30 -year -old Reese was taken to the Hospital Princess of Sentra Ann, where he died a little later, surrounded by family, friends and colleagues, Nadgiga said. Reese became an officer from Virginia Beach in 2022 after serving for three years as a deputy for the city.
The 25 -year -old Girwin was taken to a general hospital to Sentara Virginia Beach, where he died around 4:30 am, also loved by relatives and colleagues. The Gyruvan swore like an officer from Virginia Beach in 2020.
“We are hurting,” Naudgitite said during a press conference on Saturday, which was attended by several local and state leaders. “The department hurts. The city hurts. And if you know Virginia Beach, we are a big city, but we are really just a small community and I can tell you that this community hurts. “
Neudigate said McCoy’s motive is unknown. He had a sentence for a crime of 2009, and if he had been caught with a gun, he would have arrested arrest and possibly another sentence for being a criminal with a gun, the chief said.
“I think we all want to know (the motive), but I think only one person knows this and this individual has died,” Naidgiga said.
Stopping the traffic is one of the most dangerous situations that a police officer can meet, said Brian Luciano, a retired officer and CEO of the Virginia Beach Police Association.
“There is a phrase in the law enforcement agencies that you have to shake off your head and that’s the idea of a routine stopping of the movement,” Luciano said. “There is no such thing as a routine stop of traffic.”
The residents nearby said they were witnesses and heard the event develop near the intersection of Silvan Lane and Harbinger Road.
Randy Nash said he was out when he saw employees tell a man in a car to stop resisting while fighting him. Then Nash heard shots and scream. He saw officers on the ground before witnessing the man running through the nearby alley.
Several doors on top, Tyler Lane said the employees filled the area with pulled weapons, instructing residents to stay away from the windows. Lane said he had turned pictures he had taken after the shooting hoping to help the investigation.
“It’s a terrible situation and it shouldn’t happen,” he said.
On Saturday afternoon, officers began to assemble a memorial in front of the fourth section, where a trash and Reese were appointed. It included two patrol vehicles, two blue candles wrapped in black ribbons and several bouquets of flowers and teddy bears. Nearby, the American flag was flying half a staff.
Laura Poner and Charlotte Gomez were among the visitors who stopped to express respect.
“It’s just pointless,” said Poner, a city employee who works with many officers. “Above the registration plate? … Your heart hurts for their families. “
Gomez lives at a walk from where the shooting took place.
“It’s heartbreaking,” she said.
Since 1898, 15 Virginia Beach officials have been killed in the execution of the duty, according to the Virginia Beach Police Foundation. The death of this weekend led to 17.
The last time a city police officer was killed in the execution of the duty, was August 2008. This incident also happened in the area of green running.
Detective Michael Smith Phillips, 37, sat in a pickup truck, preparing to make a purchase undercover from a suspect drug dealer when the man’s accomplice climbed and shot him three times. Phillips, a veteran of the Air Force and the married father of two, died in place.
Sagittarius Ted Vincent Carter, then 23, pleaded guilty to the murder of Phillips and received a life sentence. At that time, the 26 -year -old Marshal Demetrius Moed was found guilty of murder and robbery in the trial and was sentenced to 68 years.
In June 2003, an officer Rodney Poxici was shot dead and killed while stopping traffic on the Neck Road Dam. The 33 -year -old Pocceschi has stopped after calling for a robbery at a nearby restaurant. The suspect was killed during an exchange of shooting with the officer.
Donations to support the support of the Girvan and Reese families are collected by the Virginia Beach Police Foundation through their website at www.virginiabeachpolicefoundation.org. Jake Jacox, a former chief of Virginia’s police and the Foundation’s president, said every donated penny would go to the families.
Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com
Jane Harper, Jane.harper@pilotonline.com
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