HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- A 55-year-old man from Arizona who prompted a three-hour standoff outside the Virginia State Police Division One headquarters early Saturday morning has died.
Sgt. Steve Vick, a spokesperson for state police, said dispatchers spotted a man drive up and park in the front of the Richmond Field Office parking lot at Brook Road and Connecticut Avenue near I-295 around 12:40 a.m. Saturday.
When that driver did not get out, a trooper went to check on the vehicle. That's when Vick said that trooper discovered the man was armed and suffering from what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head.
"The driver was talking with troopers and a negotiator, who responded to the scene, but refused to comply with commands to put down the weapon and safely exit the vehicle," Vick said.
Since the suspect was uncooperative, troopers used flash grenades to spark a diversion to allow them to get close enough to the vehicle to get the man out.
Neighbors reported hearing two sharp blasts when the flash bangs were deployed.
Video shows personnel loading the man into an awaiting ambulance. However, Vick said the man died on the way to the hospital.
"State police never fired any shots during the course of the incident," Vick said. "The driver never fired at the troopers during the negotiations. No state police personnel were injured during the incident."
Vick said state police are investigating the incident as a suicide.
The scene shutdown Brook Road during the standoff, but officials said the road had reopened by 5 a.m.
Witness Account
Neighbors who live behind state police headquarters said they have never seen anything like what happened.
Lenny Sea said the flashing lights were what first woke him up Saturday morning. He was stunned by what he saw outside.
“I noticed that the lights were all the way around and the whole parking lot was blocked off,” Sea said.
When the flash bangs activated, Sea said he heard a “pow-pow” and then a big flash.
"I could hear them saying, ‘Let me see your hand, let me see your hand. It’s ok,'” he said.
Sea said he could not believe what happened so close to his home.
