RICHMOND, Va. -- Two Richmond Police officers and one suspect were taken to the hospital following a shooting on the city's Southside.
Officers were called to the 800 block of Semmes Avenue, in Manchester, to investigate a report of a person with a gun at about 1:25 a.m. Tuesday.
"When they arrived there was gunfire in the 1000 block of Semmes Avenue. Two Richmond Police officers were shot. One suspect was shot," a Richmond Police spokesperson wrote in an email about the situation.
Crime Insider sources tell CBS 6’s Jon Burkett one officer was shot in the leg, while the other officer was critically injured in the chest. Police say one officer suffered life threatening injuries and the other suffered a non-life threatening gunshot wound.
A witness said he began watching the encounter from his apartment when he heard commotion and a police siren outside.
“I heard a car door shut really fast and I got up really quickly,” said the man who didn’t want to be identified. “There was a group of about seven people, black and white. It seemed like [the officers] were trying to search them. I knew it was after curfew.”
He said the group was walking down Semmes Avenue away from the Lee Bridge.
“It seemed like they were trying to search them from what it seems like because they got pretty close. It seems like things started getting dramatic and [police] backed off really quickly. I didn’t see who shot first,” the witness described.
Neighbors reported hearing about seven gunshots and a flood of sirens.
The witness said police put an injured officer into a cruiser and sped away. Cell phone video showed first responders loading another officer onto a stretcher and into an ambulance.
All three of the injured were transported to a local hospital for treatment.
The suspect, 19-year-old Waseem A. Hackett, was charged with malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer and use of a firearm in commission of a felony. Police say additional charges are pending.
He was also served with outstanding warrants from a nearby jurisdiction.
His injury is considered non-life threatening, according to police.
Two additional suspects were detained for questioning, according to the spokesman.
The Department’s Force Investigation Team (FIT) is investigate the shooting.
The City of Richmond has been under a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. each night amid protests focused on police brutality and the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.
Anyone with additional information is asked to call Major Crimes Det. A. Coates at (804) 646-0729.
