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Man charged with attempted capital murder after Richmond Police shooting

Posted at 12:58 PM, Mar 03, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-03 12:58:22-05

RICHMOND, Va. — Charges were upgraded against the man accused of shooting a Richmond Police officer in the leg . Keith Smith, Jr. shot the officer in the leg Sunday, January 31, after running as officers approached him near the intersection of Garland Avenue and Hooper Street, police said.

The officer survived the shooting.

Smith, 23, was charged Thursday with four felonies, including two counts of attempted capital murder and two counts of use of a firearm during a commission of a felony. His arrest following the shooting was his third arrest in Richmond.

Court records indicated Smith was previously arrested in 2010 on a number of drug and gun charges, including possession of drugs without prescription, possession of a gun with drugs and possession of a gun by a convicted felon. Smith appeared in court Thursday and is being held without bond.

Shooting incident

Richmond Police spokesperson Gene Lepley said the incident began at about 12:15 a.m. when the officer approached Smith near the corner of Garland Avenue and Hooper Street.

“It was just a ‘stop and talk,’” Lepley said. “They do it all the time. When you have somebody out at night, you engage those people and see what’s going on. You find out what’s happening.”

But Smith began to run, Lepley said.

As the police officer gave chase, he fired multiple shots at the officer. One of the shots struck the officer in the leg. That officer returned fire, but did not strike Smith. The other two assisting officers did not fire their weapons in the pursuit.

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