SURRY Co., Va. - Both directions of Route 31 (Rolfe Highway) were blocked and operations were suspended at the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry due to an officer-involved shooting in which a person was shot by a deputy, WTKR reports.
According to the Virginia State Police, shortly after 1 p.m., the Surry County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call about a suspicious subject walking along Route 31 near Tappahanna Hundred.
When deputies arrived, they found an adult man on Route 31 wielding a two-by-four and a sharp object in his hands, yelling at passing drivers.
According to the Virginia State Police, the deputies attempted to make contact with the man and asked him to drop the objects. The man charged at the deputies and was subsequently shot.
Two witnesses who didn't want to be identified told News 3 the man, who they say was foaming at the mouth, threw down the board and took off running in the direction of the ferry dock. They said they saw deputies unsuccessfully try to tase the man.
According to the witnesses, a deputy shot the man once after trying to get the suspect to stop and he failed to do so. They said the deputy shot the man again after he still did not stop.
The witnesses also say it appeared the man's family came out to the scene to see what happened.
"A lady got out and was screaming at the top of her lungs, 'That's my son; don't hurt him!' and then it got quiet and you could just hear her crying," said one of the witnesses.
The man was taken to Riverside Regional Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. He is expected to survive.
No one else was hurt in the shooting.
The Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Chesapeake Field Office has been requested to investigate the shooting. According to police, the deputy who fired has been placed on administrative leave.
The Jamestown-Scotland Ferry has resumed normal operations, and Route 31 has reopened to traffic.
