An Illinois man
Illinois man had 140 rounds of ammo
who shot and killed a Virginia state trooper had more than 140 rounds of ammunition, authorities said.
RICHMOND, Va. — A 34-yearold Illinois man who fatally shot a Virginia state trooper Thursday at a Greyhound bus terminal had more than 140 rounds of ammunition on him, authorities said Friday
Police said James Brown III, an ex-convict from Aurora, Ill., shot Trooper Chad Dermyer, 37, multiple times before he was killed by two other troopers.
Dermyer, a former Marine, had been participating with about a dozen other troopers in a training exercise at the bus station when a brief encounter with Brown quickly turned violent, police said.
Two women — a 21-year- old from Wingdale, N.Y., and a 47-year-old from Jacksonville, N.C. — also were shot and injured.
A spokesman with Binghamton University in New York said Friday that the younger woman was a member of the school’s track team and was released from the hospital Friday.
The team was headed Thursday to a meet at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, about 50 miles from Richmond.
The other injured woman was also expected to survive.
Dermyer was dressed in a fatigue-style uniform and was not wearing a protective vest when he was shot, said Virginia State Police Superintendent Col. Steven Flaherty.
“We’ve got a lot of evi-
dence to sift through,”. Flaherty said. The evidence, he said, includes bags that could have belonged to Brown.
Flaherty said surveillance footage from the bus station helped authorities piece together what happened moments before the shooting.
Brown, at the Richmond terminal for a stop on his way to Chicago, was seated in a restaurant. He walked toward his bags near the front entrance of the station and encountered Dermyer, who may have made some small talk. Brown then
pulled out a handgun and started firing.
The police superintendent said he wasn’t sure why Brown started shooting.
In Illinois, the Aurora Police Department released a photo of Brown and confirmed he was a “prior resident” but said the department “has received limited information as the investigation is still ongoing.”
According to Kane County online court records, a James Brown of Aurora with the same date of birth as the Virginia gunman has an extensive criminal record. Brown had
several convictions and was imprisoned for domestic battery, aggravated battery of a pregnant person, intimidation, dealing heroin near a school or park, cocaine possession and battery.
He also had been arrested for eluding and resisting police and had been cited for several traffic offenses, records show.
Police say Dermyer, by all accounts, loved his work.
Former colleagues and residents said he was an excellent officer who was rarely found without a smile on his face.
Dermyer lived in Glou- cester, Va., with his wife, Michelle, and two young children, state police said.
Attempts to reach the Dermyer family Friday were unsuccessful. State police officials said that the incident was too painful and recent for families or co-workers to discuss.
Dermyer had served on the force in Jackson, Mich., and Newport News, Va.
“We have a great department, we have a lot of great people here, but Chad truly was one that distinguished himself amongst that elite group of individuals that we have,” Assistant Chief Joseph Moore of the Newport News Police Department said Friday. “He was the best of the best. I always referred to him as a ‘cop’s cop.’ ”
Earlier this year, Dermyer and another trooper briefly became minicelebrities when they rescued a lost dog running through interstate traffic in Hampton, Va. The rescue was highlighted on WVEC-TV and received widespread praise on social media. Dermyer and his partner returned the dog, a miniature schnauzer named Pinta, to owner Jeffrey Corbin.
“He seemed to be a really warm person,” Corbin said. “... He had a warm persona about him.”