Police body-worn camera shows hostage situation turns fatal

The shooting occurred after officers responded to a 911 call about a “mental health emergency.”

Police responded to the home in the Libby Hill area of ​​East Richmond around 7:30 p.m.

In the entryway of the home, police begin speaking with 36-year-old Kyle Harris, who repeatedly tells them he has a “hostage” and that “he’s armed” as police ask him to come to the door. Harris is not visible from the entrance, but can be heard accusing his wife of cheating on him with another man.

At this point, police called for backup and entered the house.

“You’re going to have to shoot me,” Harris is heard saying at one point.

“We’re not trying to achieve that, okay?” the officer answers.

A few minutes later, Harris says he intends to kill a police officer tonight. At one point he says he will “cut the officer’s throat.”

Police have repeatedly said they just want to talk to Harris. Around 7:57 p.m., police burst into the house with a negotiator and an officer armed with a ballistic shield. The officer can be heard saying, “He’s got an axe!”

The lead officer uses his shield to smash down the bedroom door, revealing Harris lying horizontally on the bed. A police officer shoots Harris twice. Two officers then use stun guns.

The video, which fades to blur, shows Harris bleeding from his torso. Harris died five hours later at the hospital, police said.

In a news release, police spokesman James Mercante said officers entered the home because they feared for the hostage’s safety. The woman was found unharmed, Mercante said.

In 2023, Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards promised the public that the department would release footage of police shootings no later than two weeks after they happened. The Richmond Police Department is the only police department in central Virginia with such a policy.

In a statement accompanying the release of the video, Mercante wrote that the department’s goal is to achieve greater transparency with the public.

“The Richmond Police Department continues to work with various stakeholders to provide the public with clear and objective information regarding critical incidents,” Mercante said.

Harris’ shooting remains the subject of an internal department investigation and will be reviewed by Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette McEachin, who will decide whether charges will be filed against the officers involved in Harris’ death.

Earlier this year, McEachin declined to press charges against the officers who killed 20-year-old Kenneth Sharp on March 31.

Video of this incident showed Sharpe getting out of the car with a rifle in his hands.after which the police ask him to drop the gun and then shoot Sharpe four times.