HOPEWELL, Va. -- Hopewell Police shot a man who displayed a gun to officers as they executed a narcotics search warrant at a Hopewell home, according to police.
The incident occurred at 8 a.m. Wednesday at a home on the 1100 block of Kruper Street.
"Cop cars everywhere and SWAT dressed in army fatigues," one witness said, describing the early morning scene.
Police arrived at the home to deliver a search warrant, but a 38-year-old Hopewell man, who lived at the home, displayed a gun to the officers.
The man was struck by gunfire from police and was later hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. He is now at a nearby hospital in critical condition.
"If you have 10,12,14 police officers that are saying 'police with a search warrant' and they all have firearms in their hands and your first move is to grab a firearm or of your own and try and point at one of the officers it's probably not going to end well for you," said Miles Turner with Law Enforcement Consulting LLC.
Turner says the shooting was likely turned over to the Virginia State Police because Hopewell has a small department and limited resources to conduct the investigation.
"But there are agencies in Virginia that have their own Force Investigation Division, and that's all those guys concentrate on. But it is a transparency thing," Turner said. "By and large but also a manpower thing. If you've got a police department that size of Hopewell imagine how much resources they'd have to expend to investigate to shoot and objectively and they also still have to answer all the other calls for service that occurred during that time."
No officers were hurt, but all involved are currently on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Virginia State Police were called to investigate the shooting.
This is a developing story. If you have information email the CBS 6 Newsroom.
SCENE VIDEO: Shots fired in Hopewell home as police execute search warrant
