VIRGINIA BEACH – The commonwealth’s attorney will not file criminal charges against the four Virginia Beach Police officers who shot and killed Angelo Perry, 35, and India Kager, 27, in September while they were parked outside a 7-Eleven.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Colin Stolle said police suspected Perry was in Virginia Beach to commit a murder, and Perry fired at the officers first, causing the officers to return fire.
7-Eleven video of the shooting, released by the Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney.
Stolle announced his decision Wednesday f0llowing a criminal investigation into the police officers’ use of force. He said the officers were within their legal authority and justified to fire, so there will be no criminal charges against them.
Perry and Kager’s 4-month-old child was in the backseat of the car at the time of the shooting but was not harmed.
“It was Perry that placed Ms. Kager and their child in danger,” Stolle said.
Stolle said he had spoken with Kager’s mother, Gina Best; Kager’s father; and the wife of Angelo Perry before he announced his findings. Best, who has been calling for charges against the officers, was unhappy with his decision, he said. Stolle said his job is to remain impartial and make a decision based on facts, not passion.
“It’s not my job, unfortunately, to make everyone happy,” he said.
Stolle released the following account of the shooting and the events leading to it based on his office’s investigation:
In late August, the Virginia Beach Police Department was working with a confidential informant on two murder cases and a home invasion with a robbery and malicious wounding. The informant told detectives someone named “Blessi,” later identified as Perry, was responsible for the crimes. The informant also said Perry would be back in Virginia Beach around Sept. 4-5 to commit a murder and that he would be driving a blue Cadillac with Maryland plates.
The police tracked Perry’s phone, learned he was in the city and with a SWAT team began to follow his car the night of Sept. 5. Stolle said the officers following the vehicle saw it driving erratically — changing lanes quickly and moving from turn lanes to center lanes — which made the car harder to follow. The police noted a woman was driving, that Perry was in the passenger seat and that a third person might be in the backseat.
The car stopped at a 7-Eleven on Lynnhaven Parkway, and the officers decided to arrest Perry, who was on probation from a malicious wounding and use of a firearm, according to Stolle. They used a “flash bang” to create a distraction and five SWAT officers approached the passenger side of the vehicle, identifying themselves, according to Stolle.
The officers said they saw a window on Perry’s car break and realized he was shooting at them. Four of the five SWAT officers, identified as S. Ferreira, K. Ziemer, J. Thorson and D. Roys, returned fire. Stolle said that account was corroborated by other police and citizen eyewitness accounts, as well as 7-Eleven surveillance video, which Stolle released Wednesday. The officers tried to give CPR to Kager and treat her wounds, he said.
Stolle said the investigation determined Perry had rotated his body during the confrontation with police to push his back up against Kager, which put her in more danger.
“It was Mr. Perry who turned his body and placed Ms. Kager in the line of fire,” Stolle said.
Stolle said the medical examiner determined Kager had 10 bullet perforations that had atypical entrances, some of which may represent the entry of bullets that had exited Perry. The officers returned 30 rounds of fire before Perry lowered his weapon, which is when they stopped firing, Stolle said.
“I find that the officers did not violate the law,” he said.
