COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. – Colonial Heights police say a Chesterfield officer responding to a domestic call, shot a man who was armed with a rifle Sunday night.
"The initial call on Cedar Creek Lane was for a disturbance involving an adult male and female,” said Colonial Heights Police Sergeant Renee Walters.
That man remains in ICU but is now listed with a non-life-threatening injury.
News of the shooting was a surprise for neighbors.
"He's an alright guy,” said a neighbor who asked to remain anonymous. "You couldn't ask for a better neighbor. You couldn't ask for a better friend. He'll bend over backwards for you.”
For the man's neighbor, there is only one explanation.
"He was in Afghanistan and he's got PTSD and every once in a while, it just, he just loses it,” he said.
When police officers from Colonial Heights and Chesterfield County made it to Cedar Creek Lane at about 9 p.m. Sunday, their priority was to make sure the woman inside the residence was brought to safety, according to Walters.
Police then tried to persuade the man inside to come out of the house.
"The adult male from inside the residence confronted officers with a long gun, one shot was fired by a Chesterfield County Police officer and the adult inside was struck with that one round,” said Walters.
After the shot was fired and the man wounded, police were able to coax the man out of the house and onto the front porch where he is apprehended and treated by Paramedics.
For his neighbor, he still supports his friend.
"He's the best friend that I've got. I love him to death, we associate with each other periodically and I couldn't ask for somebody that you could trust, like this guy,” he added.
Colonial Heights Police say the investigation into the disturbance call and the shooting remain ongoing.
