RICHMOND, Va. — The Richmond Police Department has identified the officer wounded in a shootout with an armed suspect as Officer Ryan Bailey. Bailey is a nine-year veteran of the department and served in the 3rd Precinct, whose headquarters are located just blocks away from where the shootout occurred.
The 5:20 p.m. incident began at the corner of W. Cary and Meadow Streets, which is where the lower Fan and Randolph neighborhoods meet.
The slain shooting suspect was Ke’Shawn Hargrove. Hargrove, 20, was killed and Bailey injured in an exchange of gunfire late Wednesday afternoon.
Police were called to the 2100 block of West Cary Street Wednesday when someone reported a man with a gun. When the officers arrived, the man ran. During the foot pursuit, gunfire was exchanged, according to witnesses.
“They started shooting back and forth,” witness Luis Ambriz said. “They were maybe 12 or 15 feet away from each other.”
Ambriz said after Bailey was shot, the officer’s partner Jacob DeBoard returned fire. Ambriz said both officers made their way back to the suspect and tried to help him by rendering CPR. Hargrove died at the scene.
It is unclear yet whose gunfire killed Hargrove.
Outside in the neighborhood where Hargrove lived, some friends and family questioned Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham about the number of shots fired during the deadly exchange of gunfire.
“Give us an opportunity to investigate this incident,” Chief Durham said in a Thursday press conference. “I love this community and we will be open and transparent.”
Bailey is on administrative leave, along with the other responding officer, as officials investigate the incident. It is the first fatal shooting by Richmond Police in five years. The paid administrative leave is standard protocol for any officer involved shooting.
Bailey was wounded when a bullet hit him in the arm. He was released from VCU Medical around 10 p.m. Wednesday night.
In May and June 2015, Bailey participated in the development of a program intended to foster better relationships with Richmond youth.
According to online records, approximately 50 teens attended and interacted with police, “asking questions related to recent police shooting (in other areas of the country) and general question(s) in reference to what constitutes a misdemeanor as opposed to a felony.”
