NORFOLK, Va. - Norfolk Police Department and the Virginia State Police are currently investigating an officer-involved shooting that killed a man early Tuesday morning.
Authorities say the shooting took place in the 5500 block of Monroe Place around 5 a.m. According to officers, they arrived at the scene to arrest a man, identified as 41-year-old Antonio Beekman, who was wanted on several outstanding felony warrants in Virginia Beach. They say once they located Beekman, they identified themselves as police.
Police say Beekman then started to shoot at the officers, resulting in four officers returning fire.
Beekman was pronounced dead on the scene. No officers were injured.
Adrien Bellin said she woke up to the sounds of gunshots and sirens.
“It was a rat-tat-tat-tat,” she said. “It did almost sound like there might have been an exchange of gunfire. I thought I heard two separate types of sounds.”
Bellin lives two blocks away from where the disturbing scene unfolded in the Larchmont neighborhood.
“I wasn’t overly shocked. [I was] arguably disappointed just in society in general, but not shocked,” said Bellin.
Detectives said the suspect died shortly after the shootout on the sidewalk outside the Larchmont Apartments. It’s unclear if he lived there.
“I was confused, honestly,” said Eli Boyles, who saw the large police presence. “I see they have the big police cars back there and they got this whole thing taped off.”
Boyles has lived in the Larchmont Apartments for six months.
“It’s a really nice community out here,” Boyles said. “I would never have expected somebody to get shot out here.”
State police are handling the investigation to maintain transparency.
Ultimately, Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi will decide if the police shooting was justified and if those officers will face charges.
He was at Tuesday’s scene for hours.
“I come out to the scene because I am the chief minister of justice for the City of Norfolk,” Fatehi said. “I have an obligation to the citizens that any time there is a use of force, that I get all the information that I can.”
Fatehi said both he and state police are always called when someone is shot by an officer.
"They have arranged for the state police to investigate every officer-involved shooting," Fatehi explained. "The reason in public trust and public confidence. The Norfolk Police Department is a professional organization, but if the state police come in and do the investigation, they have a lot of experience in this, and no one can question their impartiality."
Fatehi said it’ll take months for state police to finish its investigation.
Several roads that were closed throughout the area were reopened by 5 p.m.
Norfolk Police are reaching out to community members for any witnesses who were near the 5500 block of Monroe Place prior to or after the incident who may have information. Anyone with information about this shooting and/or who witnessed suspicious behavior is encouraged to submit information through the P3Tips app or call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP (1-888-562-5887).
According to Fatehi, Tuesday’s shooting is the second officer-involved shooting this year. This is, however, the first where the person has died.
The first officer-involved shooting was on Granby Street in February. Norfolk detectives charged 34-year-old Barry D. Carrington Jr. of Norfolk with two counts of shooting into an occupied dwelling and discharging a firearm in public.
Fatehi said that investigation is expected to wrap up in the next couple of weeks.
