PORTSMOUTH, Va. - State Police are investigating an officer-involved shooting that took place Sunday morning.
Portsmouth Police say they responded around 11:28 a.m., to a call for service near the 2300 block of Greenwood Drive.
Police say a man, identified as Andre L. Rawls, brandished a sharp object at a Portsmouth officer on the scene. The officer fired at Rawls, leaving him with a serious injury. Rawls was then taken to the hospital for treatment.
Eyewitnesses spoke with us on what they saw take place.
"The officer pulls the taser and tells him to drop it, continuously tells him to drop it and then he didn’t so he tased him, about two or three times,” Jon Rey, a witness said. "Didn’t faze him, the guy told him hey do it again it’s not going to faze me at all, that’s when he turned around and just kept charging at the officer and he decided to run at him and he almost swung at him with it until the officer just started shooting at him.”
News 3 has obtained a video from a witness of the shooting. The video shows part of the confrontation between an officer and Rawls. In the video, you can see and hear the officer commanding the man to ‘drop it.” We’ve chosen to freeze the video when shots are fired.
We enhanced the sharpness video to provide a clearer picture of the event. Disclaimer: Some may find content in the video disturbing.
News 3 obtained another eyewitness video that shows Rawls going up to the front door of a neighbor's home and then taking stuff off of the porch. The video also shows him eventually walking down the street with what witnesses say was a barbecue fork.
Rawls has been charged with attempted malicious injury of a police officer and attempted breaking and entering. He is currently being held in the Portsmouth City Jail.
The shooting is being investigated by State Police. News 3 is working to learn more details as the community feels uneasy.
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP (1-888-562-5887).
Related: New video, more eyewitnesses recall what led up to officer-involved shooting in Portsmouth
