Two young police officers in Virginia are dead after a late-night traffic stop ended in a fatal shooting.
Officers Cameron Girvin, 25, and Christopher Reese, 30, were pronounced dead at hospitals after the shooting, according to Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate.
The pair, who were riding together Friday night, pulled over a car for an expired license plate at about 11:27 p.m., Neudigate said during a news conference Saturday.
The traffic stop happened near the intersection of Lynnhaven Parkway and Wendfield Drive in Virginia Beach, next to an apartment complex.
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Both officers approached the vehicle, and the male driver, later identified as convicted felon John McCoy III, was immediately argumentative and refused to get out of the car.
At some point, he got out of the car, and there was a “tussle” between the officers and McCoy.
McCoy pulled a pistol from his pocket and immediately shot the two officers.
While they were on the ground “defenseless,” he shot them each a second time, according to Neudigate.
Officers found McCoy in a shed directly behind the apartment complex with a fatal gunshot wound to the head less than an hour after the shooting.
The gunshot wound appeared to be self-inflicted, according to authorities.
“We’re all hurting,” Neudigate said. “We’ve got families that have lost a loved one in the prime of their life, and they are completely devastated. We’ve got an officer that is 25 years old, another one that is 30 with such a future ahead of them, senselessly taken.”
While officials are still sorting out the motive, they said McCoy may have acted because he had a gun, a criminal offense as a felon.
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“We do know from his criminal history, he has one felony conviction from 2009, so it’s not recent, but it does make him a felon,” Neudigate said. “A felon with a firearm would be a new felony charge.”
While there was another person in the car with McCoy at the time of the traffic stop, no one else will be charged in the shootings, he said.
This incident was documented on a body-worn camera and the in-car camera, according to Neudigate.
“We do have video of all of it, and I will tell you, it is quite horrific,” he said.
Girvin and Reese began working for the department in 2020.
Prior to working for the Virginia Beach Police Department, Reese was a deputy sheriff with the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office, from 2019 to 2022.
“They were dedicated, determined peace officers and public servants,” Neudigate said. “They had stellar reputations in our department and their work ethic — beyond reproach. We asked them to go out in this community and keep us safe from evil. And last night, evil found them.”
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Both officers were accompanied during a procession to the medical examiner’s office.
On Saturday morning, the department doubled all its officers up in cars, so there are no single officers on the road.
“What this does is give our officers the ability to have someone in that car with them to help process, help try to make sense of what occurred, and to make them feel that they have a semblance of safety,” Neudigate said.
Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer said the city is “heartbroken.”
“We mourn the loss of two of our own brave Virginia Beach police officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice,” Dyer said during the news conference. “Their dedication to protecting our community will never be forgotten.
“No words can ease the pain and loss as we mourn. I ask our community to come together. Please keep these officers, their families, friends and loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.”
Congresswoman Jen Kiggans posted on X to express her condolences.
“This morning our entire community mourns the tragic loss of two brave Virginia Beach police officers who were killed in the line of duty last night,” Kiggans wrote.
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