RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia State Police confirmed the identity of the suspect who fatally shot Trooper Chad P. Dermyer Thursday afternoon at the Greyhound bus station in Richmond.
WTVR CBS 6 reporter Mark Holmberg first reported the name of 34-year-old James Brown III of Aurora, Ill., Thursday night. Here's Holmberg's report:
Why?
Why did the shooter open fire as soon as state Trooper Chad P. Dermyer approached him at Richmond's Greyhound bus station?
Why did he keep shooting and fighting till the end, as state police superintendent Col. Steven Flaherty described Thursday night?
Why was he in Richmond?
An official source identified the shooter as 34-year-old James Brown III of Aurora, Illinois.
James Brown III of Aurora, Illinois
CBS 6 found a James Brown III., an African-American with a long criminal history in Aurora, whose date of birth matches up with the information from our source.
Brown is well known to police there.
We talked to his aunt in Aurora, Edith Brown, who had helped raise Brown and had allowed him to stay with her until December, when she says she told him he had to leave.
She said, "He always liked the criminal side."
She was upset about what happened, but not surprised.
"He had a lot of anger about the police in the past," she said. "He pretty much thought he wanted to be infamous . . . in terms of having a showdown. He always praised those people who got into shootouts with police."
Court records show James Brown III had been charged with attempted murder, intent to kill, aggravated battery with a firearm, failure to obey police, resisting a corrections officer, aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, aggravated battery of an unborn child, numerous drug charges, intimidation, domestic battery, felony possession of a weapon, among many driving charges.
We were unable to obtain a booking photo, and it's unclear how many charges he was ultimately convicted of and imprisoned for over the years.
Edith Brown talked with us by phone as police were on their way to her home to talk about what happened.
She said her nephew vowed that his prison days were over.
"He said he would never go back to prison again," she said. "He would fight it out with them."
James Brown III was declared dead soon after arriving at VCU Medical Center.
