CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — Twenty years ago this month, two Chesterfield Police officers responded to a domestic disturbance call. Only one walked away.
For more than 125 years, a Victorian-style home has stood at the corner of Totty and Court Streets in southern Chesterfield County. On the morning of May 4, 2006, it became the scene of a tragedy that would change lives forever.
Officers Joe Diman and Gary Buro were dispatched to a domestic disturbance at the home. It was only Buro's second day on the job.
"There was nothing out of the ordinary about it," Diman said.
As the two approached the house, Diman said they talked through their plan.
"When we were walking up to the house he and I were talking back and forth about, you know, hey, let's have her come out to us, because the call said this guy's drunk, and if he stumbles out here, we can just lock him up and resolve the situation that way," Diman said.
At the front door, the officers were greeted by the girlfriend of Willie Anderson, a Caroline County corrections officer.
"The first thing she said is, you know, he's in there. There's a gun in the room somewhere," Diman said.
The officers entered a small bedroom near the stairs and found Anderson on the phone with his ex-wife.
"He had no reaction, and at the time, I didn't appreciate that, but the fact that there was zero reaction, it was like coming face to face with pure evil, with that blank stare of just looking at us," Diman said.
Moments later, Anderson stood up with a semi-automatic pistol in hand and started shooting.
"There was no furtive movements, no body language, no nothing. It was just an ambush," Diman said.
Diman drew his weapon and returned fire.
"I think something like 13 rounds went back and forth between us in seven seconds, something seven and a half seconds. It was really quick," Diman said.
The 26-year-old officer ran into the hallway and, despite being shot five times and completely losing the feeling in his right hand, was somehow able to wrestle Anderson to the ground and handcuff him. A bulletproof vest had saved his life, but Diman was critically wounded.
He radioed for help — but noticed his partner was nowhere to be found.
"I remember calling out to Gary, 'You okay? You okay? Say something,'" Diman said.
Backup and emergency crews arrived within minutes. Anderson was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the chest. Diman was rushed to a waiting MedFlight helicopter — and that is where he learned the news that haunts him to this day.
"I still remember the 30 yard line of the football field at Virginia State University where they landed the helicopter and just looking out the window and the flight medic told me that he had died. I felt like a total failure from that point on," Diman said.
Buro was a Desert Storm veteran who had also served in the NYPD. When the September 11 attacks happened on his day off, he drove to the Brooklyn Bridge, walked across it — because all the bridges were closed — and went to work at Ground Zero.
Buro's body was returned to his home state of New Jersey, where he received a hero's send-off. Because of his injuries, Diman was not able to make the trip north — and for this story, CBS 6 found the original footage from the service in its tape archives, allowing Diman to see it for the first time.
Months after the shooting, Diman received law enforcement's highest award for showing incredible bravery in the face of danger.
Though he ultimately returned to active duty, Diman says he constantly struggled with PTSD and survivor's guilt.
Watch: 20 years after Chesterfield shooting, retired officer Joe Diman talks dealing with survivor's guilt
"It was a very difficult eight years that I was fighting to remain a police officer in Gary's memory," Diman said.
Diman says that struggle was made even harder because he did not receive the support he needed from leadership during that time. He filed for a medical retirement — but even as he was taking off his badge, he knew he had more to give.
"I want to stay involved in the law enforcement community as far as helping to care for officers, specifically those who have been through or experience a critical incident," Diman said.
But he needed to get help for himself first.
"I had reached a point three years ago where I was going in a direction that I didn't like," Diman said.
Things finally started to improve when former Chesterfield Police Chief Jeffrey Katz encouraged Diman to participate in the Boulder Crest Foundation's Warrior Path, a free program and retreat for military members and emergency responders who have endured trauma.
"For six days, you stay there with no cell phones, and they teach you strategies, and they teach you things about human beings," Diman said.
"It helped adjust my path in a way, to focus on mental health and redirect myself," Diman said.
Now, he's back to serving others. Diman earned a master's degree in criminal justice from VCU and has taught a class to help officers survive and cope with critical incidents. He also regularly gives talks to the police department's next generation.
"Teaching different levels of law enforcement who are willing to listen, educating young and old, from recruit to executive about what it's like to really be in a situation that they can't really teach about in the academy," Diman said.
For Diman, telling his story is a way of keeping his fallen partner's memory alive.
"He truly was a selfless man of service," Diman said.
"I don't want the Chesterfield community or nation or country to forget Officer Gary Jonathan Buro and the sacrifice he made in the line of duty," Diman said.
The bulletproof vest that saved Diman's life is now on display inside the Chesterfield Police Academy. Diman also sat down to tell his story on the most recent episode of "Untold — A WTVR Podcast," available on the CBS 6 YouTube channel, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
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This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, click here.
