YORK COUNTY — York-Poquoson Sheriff Ron Montgomery gave an update Monday afternoon on a shooting involving a Sheriff’s Office deputy at the Clairmont Apartments in York County Sunday night that sent a 16-year-old male juvenile to a local hospital.
According to the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, at approximately 6:11 p.m. on April 14, deputies were dispatched to a call for an armed subject who was brandishing a firearm in the 400 block of Arcadia Loop.
“We originally got a call from a family member who had been alerted by another family member that this individual didn’t seem to be right,” Montgomery said. “After that, we got calls from several of the residents out there who’d actually been victims of the gun being pointed at them.
Montgomery added one person, whose children were playing in the nearby playground, claimed a laser had gone across her face. A laser sight was later found on the firearm.
Upon arrival, deputies found the juvenile barricaded in a vehicle in the passenger seat, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
“When we arrived there was a description of the vehicle — a gold Honda — that this individual was seated in across from building 401 in the Clairmont Apartments. Deputies, when they arrived, observed this individual in the car and he still had the handgun in his lap, so deputies backed off.”
Multiple deputies then arrived, cordoned off the area and began trying to talk to the juvenile. At one point, they even attempted to communicate through a relative who was FaceTiming with him, trying to get him to leave the gun in the car and get out of the car, according to Montgomery. Deputies tried to negotiate for at least 10-15 minutes, he said, but the juvenile never responded verbally to deputies.
Montgomery said that the juvenile pointed the gun several times in various directions while in the vehicle, adding a deputy witnessed him crank a round into the weapon, a 9mm pistol with an extended magazine. Deputies later found 23 rounds in the vehicle.
Upon exiting the vehicle while holding both the weapon and a cell phone, the juvenile extended the weapon, pointing it in the direction of several deputies, Montgomery said. At that point, one of his deputies, armed with an issued rifle, fired three times, striking the juvenile twice.
Montgomery said deputies then secured the weapon and immediately began administering first aid, and medics that had been staged were quickly on the scene. The juvenile was transported to a local hospital to treat injuries sustained from the shooting, and Montgomery said doctors are optimistic about his recovery.
Montgomery said the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office had not had contact with the juvenile before yesterday’s events. He added that the weapon used had not shown up as stolen, but that it did not belong to the juvenile’s family.
The deputy, who has been with the Sheriff’s Office for a little more than a year and has approximately five years of experience, has been placed on paid administrative leave.
The York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office investigation is continuing, and Montgomery said it would be consulting with the Commonwealth’s Attorney regarding any criminal charges.
