RICHMOND, Va. — Family members say Jazmin Wooten-Mitchell, a 31-year-old mother of two, had recently lost the father of one of her children and was in crisis when Richmond police shot and killed her Thursday night in South Richmond.
Her family says Wooten-Mitchell was grieving when she made a social media post that raised concerns about her. The post read: "I love y'all I'm checking out."
Officers received a 911 call for a shooting in progress at the Belt Atlantic Apartments in the 4000 block of Midlothian Turnpike at 6:47 p.m. As they arrived, they heard additional gunshots and were directed by bystanders to Wooten-Mitchell's apartment upstairs.
Sources say shots were bouncing off and penetrating her apartment door. While climbing the stairwell, officers heard four gunshots before one officer confronted Wooten-Mitchell, who was holding a gun. The officer ordered her to drop her weapon before shooting her. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Only four minutes passed between the initial 911 call for shots fired and officers ordering Wooten-Mitchell to stop pulling the trigger and put the gun down.
Wooten-Mitchell's children were not in the apartment when the shooting occurred, and no one else was injured.
Watch: Sources share details about Richmond woman shot by police
Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards addressed the shooting at a press conference Thursday night.
"This is a tragic day. A person lost their lives and an officer had to do something that none of us joined this police department to do, which is take another person's life. So it's a sad day all around," Edwards said.
Many family members and friends gathered at the scene after Wooten-Mitchell was killed. Richmond Police Department chaplains responded to support those affected and help keep emotions from escalating.
RPD Chaplain Rev. Dr. Gwendolyn Andrews spoke about the department's response.
"We are not necessarily gathering information or things of that magnitude, but to comfort them and to support them. Again, we are here, as we always show up, and we are that supportive entity. And not only are we taking their information, we're going to follow up, too — there are kids involved, there are friends involved, and you see the emotions high," Andrews said.
Andrews also addressed the broader role chaplains play in situations like this.
"Police do what they do. We are here to support spiritually as well as clinically. You've seen me. I've been pulling persons — we've been talking, we've been de-escalating, and I think all of those skills are necessary, but also there's a trust factor," Andrews said.
Investigators are now reviewing witness accounts, camera footage, and body camera footage as part of the department's investigation into the fatal officer-involved shooting.
"A lot of forensic evidence — as you can see, the technicians are working behind me right now. We are in the process of interviewing witnesses, reviewing camera footage, reviewing body camera footage. As you know, since this is a fatal officer-involved shooting, within the next two weeks we will be releasing a video of this incident to be transparent with our community," Edwards said.
The officer who fired the weapon has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard protocol in shootings like this. The Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney will determine whether the officer broke the law. If cleared, an internal investigation will follow to determine if any policies were violated.
This is the second officer-involved shooting in Richmond this year. Both incidents occurred in the 2nd Precinct.
Anyone with information is asked to call Major Crimes Detective Crewell at 804-646-5324 or Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
📲: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky | Facebook | Instagram | X | Threads | TikTok | YouTube
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.
