TheeBadOne
03-09-2005, 02:41 PM
Portsmouth police shoot, kill man during foot chase
PORTSMOUTH - A police officer shot a young man late Monday after he brandished a gun during a brief foot chase in the Prentis Park area.
Derrick L. Tillett , of the 1900 block of Elm Ave., died from a gunshot later that night.
Tillett, 27, faced warrants for criminal accusations and a probation violation related to a 2000 arrest for cocaine dealing, a charge to which he pleaded guilty, court records show.
Police also said he was wanted for attempting to kill someone, and he faced an assault charge.
Tillett had been on the run from the law, according to a friend. He also was featured in the Crime Line in The Virginian-Pilot the morning that he was shot – his name was misspelled.
The shooting happened after police identified Tillett, who had been sitting in a parked car with friends on Fayette Street at about 11:15 p.m .
According to police, he ran when they tried to arrest him. A brief foot chase ensued through a short alley, over an already-toppled wooden fence and around the building. On Tuesday, neighbors and one of the people who had been in the car with Tillett said they heard several shots fired.
Accounts of the number of shots differed.
Police released no number. Written accounts by police that said an officer “returned fire” do not specify whether Tillett fired a gun first or at all.
Steven W. Johnson, 32, and Brian C. Davis , 26, were the officers involved in the incident.
Police did not say which officer shot Tillett.
Both officers were put on administrative leave, which is a standard procedure while the shooting is being investigated. The last fatal “officer-involved shooting” in Portsmouth was in 1997. An armed man was shot and killed after a half-hour vehicle chase.
Johnson, a veteran of nearly a decade on the force, is “probably one of the best we’ve got,” said D. K. Butler, president of the Portsmouth chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police .
Of Davis, who joined the department in late 2001, Butler said, “He’s one of our community policing officers. He’s a good officer.”
Tillett’s family did not wish to comment.
A makeshift memorial lay on curb near where the shooting took place Tuesday morning. There was a basket with flowers, a rose in a plastic sleeve and a votive candle. Whipping winds and cold drizzle gave little hope that a small flame would survive. Wind blew the basket into a puddle.
A man who refused to identify himself, other than by a nickname, tended to the memorial. The man, who called himself Breed , said he was in the car with Tillett late Monday, and said he spent much of that night and early Tuesday morning being interviewed downtown by police. Police impounded the car.
“He was my best friend,” Breed said. “It’s senseless. ... He knows what he was. The streets know what he was.”
Police said they recovered the weapon they believe Tillett had on him, but did not say whether he fired it.
Detective Lindsay A. Voorhees , a spokeswoman, said the police department will make results of its investigation public.
article (http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=83203&ran=212229)
PORTSMOUTH - A police officer shot a young man late Monday after he brandished a gun during a brief foot chase in the Prentis Park area.
Derrick L. Tillett , of the 1900 block of Elm Ave., died from a gunshot later that night.
Tillett, 27, faced warrants for criminal accusations and a probation violation related to a 2000 arrest for cocaine dealing, a charge to which he pleaded guilty, court records show.
Police also said he was wanted for attempting to kill someone, and he faced an assault charge.
Tillett had been on the run from the law, according to a friend. He also was featured in the Crime Line in The Virginian-Pilot the morning that he was shot – his name was misspelled.
The shooting happened after police identified Tillett, who had been sitting in a parked car with friends on Fayette Street at about 11:15 p.m .
According to police, he ran when they tried to arrest him. A brief foot chase ensued through a short alley, over an already-toppled wooden fence and around the building. On Tuesday, neighbors and one of the people who had been in the car with Tillett said they heard several shots fired.
Accounts of the number of shots differed.
Police released no number. Written accounts by police that said an officer “returned fire” do not specify whether Tillett fired a gun first or at all.
Steven W. Johnson, 32, and Brian C. Davis , 26, were the officers involved in the incident.
Police did not say which officer shot Tillett.
Both officers were put on administrative leave, which is a standard procedure while the shooting is being investigated. The last fatal “officer-involved shooting” in Portsmouth was in 1997. An armed man was shot and killed after a half-hour vehicle chase.
Johnson, a veteran of nearly a decade on the force, is “probably one of the best we’ve got,” said D. K. Butler, president of the Portsmouth chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police .
Of Davis, who joined the department in late 2001, Butler said, “He’s one of our community policing officers. He’s a good officer.”
Tillett’s family did not wish to comment.
A makeshift memorial lay on curb near where the shooting took place Tuesday morning. There was a basket with flowers, a rose in a plastic sleeve and a votive candle. Whipping winds and cold drizzle gave little hope that a small flame would survive. Wind blew the basket into a puddle.
A man who refused to identify himself, other than by a nickname, tended to the memorial. The man, who called himself Breed , said he was in the car with Tillett late Monday, and said he spent much of that night and early Tuesday morning being interviewed downtown by police. Police impounded the car.
“He was my best friend,” Breed said. “It’s senseless. ... He knows what he was. The streets know what he was.”
Police said they recovered the weapon they believe Tillett had on him, but did not say whether he fired it.
Detective Lindsay A. Voorhees , a spokeswoman, said the police department will make results of its investigation public.
article (http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=83203&ran=212229)