Some officers involved in fatal shooting had body cams
Norfolk police confirmed Wednesday that some officers involved in the shooting death of Antonio Beekman wore body cameras and the department placed four special operations unit officers on administrative duty while the incident is investigated.
The 41-year-old truck driver was wanted by Virginia Beach police on charges of malicious wounding, use of a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to Norfolk police. Officers were attempting to arrest Beekman on the charges Tuesday morning when police said he began shooting at them. They returned fire, killing him.
Norfolk police spokesperson Sgt. Will Pickering provided additional details about the incident Wednesday, indicating “the officers were wearing body cameras” at the time of the incident. When asked to clarify whether all four officers had them, he didn’t know for sure.
“I don’t want to misspeak, but I know there are bodyworn cameras,” he said.
He said the department would not be releasing such footage while the investigation is underway, saying that keeping such evidence close to the vest is standard even in shootings that don’t involve police officers.
Police said officers located Beekman at the Larchmont Apartments, where he was a resident. Police say he shot first, prompting a barrage of gunfire from four officers.
“Upon locating the wanted suspect, officers assigned to the Special Operations Team identified themselves as police officers to the wanted suspect,” Norfolk police said in an initial statement issued after the shooting. “After identifying themselves, the suspect began to shoot at the officers.”
Pickering declined to say whether the special operations unit officers —equivalent to a SWAT team — were in plainclothes, wearing tactical gear or otherwise in police uniforms.
“They identified themselves as police,” Pickering said, declining to elaborate on whether that was a verbal identification alone or if “police” markings were on officers’ clothing.
Neighbors described hearing between 10 and 20 gunshots in quick succession.
According to a resident of the nearest home to the scene and a tenant in Larchmont Apartments with one of the most direct viewpoints of the scene, police were situated on the street near the path from the apartment building to the sidewalk when they encountered Beekman.
The apartment tenant, who declined to give his name, said he saw a group gathered around Beekman after the gunfire before police shooed them away.
“I’m actually still not even sure if it was cops by the body,” he said. “The first thing I saw was (Beekman) on the ground, that was immediately after the shots were done. Then there’s a bunch of people who were just grouped over which I thought were just random people.”
Pickering would not identify the four officers or provide information about them, such as their rank, race or gender, or how many years they have been with the department.
“At the end of the day, we’re human beings,” Pickering said.
He also would not say whether police recovered a gun from Beekman at the scene.
“This is a full-fledged homicide investigation, law enforcement or not,” Pickering said. “We’re going through the same investigative methods. That body goes to the (Medical Examiner’s) Office. We are pulling every bullet that we can find. We’re analyzing every gun that was fired, to match up who fired the lethal round.”
Because the Virginia State Police is now leading the investigation into the homicide, he said, anything released now needs to be coordinated through that agency. While the Norfolk police believe in transparency, he said, “we don’t want anything to be released prematurely” that could “potentially compromise this investigation.”
“Sometimes we don’t know how much information or what information is going to impact our investigation,” he said.