CHARLOTTESVILLE—
A teenager has been shot and killed after exchanging gunfire with police after a pursuit.It happened Friday afternoon in Albemarle County.
Below is a press release from Virginia State Police on the incident:
State Police Investigate Pursuit & Fatal Shooting
Virginia State Police are investigating a multi-agency pursuit that involved a stolen sheriff's patrol vehicle and ended in an exchange of gunfire in Albemarle County Friday afternoon (Jan. 1, 2010).
Before 1 p.m. Friday, Virginia State Police responded to Snow Mountain Road to investigate a hit-and-run crash in Stanardsville. A Greene County deputy sheriff assisting the trooper in the investigation drove up the road to see if he could locate the suspect vehicle.
As the deputy approached a Ford pickup truck, the driver of the pickup tried to turn around in the roadway and ended up running off the road and wrecking the vehicle. The pickup's driver then fled the scene on foot and ran into the woods. The deputy sheriff stopped and pursued the driver on foot into the woods. (The pickup truck fit the description of a vehicle reported to the Greene County Sheriff's Office earlier that afternoon for being taken without authorization from its owner.)
During the foot pursuit, the driver was able to circle back around to the scene of the crash. He approached the deputy's vehicle, which was locked, and used a rock to break out a window. The suspect then drove off in the marked patrol car.
A bulletin was broadcast to area law enforcement concerning the stolen patrol car. Albemarle County Police were first to spot the vehicle and attempted to initiate a traffic stop. The suspect refused to comply and a pursuit was initiated.
The course of the pursuit included Route 29 in Albemarle and Nelson counties, Route 6 and Route 20, where it ended with the stolen patrol car crashing into an embankment in the community of Keene in Albemarle County. During the high-speed pursuit, the suspect tried to run police vehicles and other motorists off the road in his attempts to get away. No crashes occurred as a result of the stolen vehicle's reckless driving.
When an Albemarle County police officer deployed a tire deflation device across the roadway to slow the stolen vehicle, the suspect driver shot at the officer. The officer was not injured.
As the suspect headed north on Route 20, he lost control of the stolen Crown Victoria patrol car and ran off the right side of the road into an embankment. The suspect then started shooting at police. His gunfire struck at least three law-enforcement vehicles. The officers on scene returned fire. The suspect, Colby W. Eppard, 18, of Stanardsville, died at the scene. None of the officers on scene was injured in the exchange of gunfire.
Assisting in the pursuit was Scottsville Police Department and Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Conservation Police. The pursuit concluded at approximately 2:30 p.m.
The incident remains under investigation by the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation's Appomattox Field Office Police Shooting Investigation Team.
Because of their involvement in the incident, officers with Virginia State Police, Greene County Sheriff's Office and Albemarle County Police will be placed on administrative leave with pay, in accordance with each individual agency's policy, pending the outcome of the ongoing state police investigation and internal agency investigations.
