While questions circulated on Saturday about the shooting of a 25-year-old black man in multiple chaotic shootings in Virginia Beach, city police chief Paul Neudigate admitted to reporters on Saturday that there is no bodycam footage of the showdown – and police have no idea if the man was armed.
“I don’t have a ton of answers,” Neudigate said of Donovan Lynch’s death, who he said is “still under investigation.”
Lynch was killed by police when officers responded to a shootout they said broke out while dealing with another unrelated shooting in the area. Police said they were dealing with “three separate shooting events” along the coast of the city on Friday night. Three men have been arrested in connection with the first shooting of the night, in which eight people were injured and took place just minutes before the second shooting.
But the circumstances of the second shooting, in which Lynch was killed, remain unclear. Neudigate only said the incident started as a physical altercation until several people drew weapons. Another victim died in the shooting, 29-year-old Desheyla Harris, who described Neudigate as “an innocent victim hit by stray gunfire”.
Before Lynch was identified by police as the victim of a shooting involving an officer, a first press release described the murdered man as “an armed civilian.” But Neudigate admitted openly on Saturday that authorities don’t really know if Lynch was armed.
Instead, Neudigate could only say that “a firearm had been recovered near where this incident took place.”
When asked by a reporter if the police had evidence that the weapon belonged to Lynch, or that Lynch was armed at the time he was shot, Neudigate answered plainly, “No. Right now, no.”
Neudigate also couldn’t say how many times Lynch was shot. And if anyone hoped the bodycam footage could clear things up, the police chief said the camera was not on at the time of the fatal shooting.
“There are no bodycam images. The officer was wearing a body camera, but it was not activated, “he said, adding that the reason for the body camera disabling would be” part of our investigation. ”
“We don’t know what the circumstances were prior to the shooting. There is an expectation [officers] activate the body camera. “
Investigators had not yet interviewed the officer who shot Lynch, he said.
“I don’t have the answers the community is looking for,” admitted the police chief. “I am unable to stand up for my community and answer the difficult questions.”
Police have arrested three men in connection with the shooting: Ahmon Adams, 22, Nyquez Baker, 18, and Devon Dorsey Jr, 20.
The press conference ended with a protester shouting “No justice, no peace!” One could hear the person calling Lynch’s death “a murder.”