RICHMOND, Va. — A 22-year-old Chesterfield man is facing attempted capital murder of a police officer and attempted murder charges after police said he prompted a standoff at the Cloverleaf Inn Sunday afternoon that shutdown a section of Midlothian Turnpike for several hours.
Richmond police said Monday that Paris A. Loving-Johnson, of the 4400 block of Pano Court in Chesterfield, was also served with warrants for two counts of domestic assault and battery, failure to pay child support and felony destruction of property.
Richmond police said an armed gunman has been taken into custody after prompting a The standoff shutdown a section of Midlothian Turnpike for several hours.
The chaos started around 3:45 p.m. when officers were called to the Cloverleaf Inn Motel at 5456 Midlothian Turnpike after a woman reported that her boyfriend had shot at her, according to Richmond police.
As officers pulled up, the male then shot at one of the officers from inside the motel room. That’s when officers backed up and called for backup.
Richmond police and fire crews responded, as did Chesterfield police and Virginia State Police. K-9 units and the SWAT team were also on the scene.
Midlothian Turnpike was shut down in both directions between German School Road and Covington Road for three hours as teams negotiated with the armed man holed up inside a motel room.
Witnesses told CBS 6 News that at least five shots rang out.
"Police and SWAT team and everybody was just running," said Starr Coe, who witnessed the chaos. "Then they made us move and bust a u-turn right in the middle of the street and told us to, 'Move, move, move!' So we got out and pulled over to see what was going on and they told us to move because something could ricochet."
Coe, who has lived in the area her entire life, watched the frightening scene play out.
"Southside is beginning to be the most dangerous neighborhood and side of town to live on," Coe said.
That sentiment shared by others who call the area home, including Michael Barker.
"These hotels are too much," Barker said. "With these drug activities, these guns, this violence."
It was a collective effort to try to diffuse the standoff that lasted through sundown before the shooting suspect surrendered to police at 6:45 p.m.
As the investigation stretches on, not only are police looking for answers, but so are those who live in the community.
"You are scared to ride down the street, you can get hit by a stray bullet -- it's just bad,” Coe said.
