A police officer who shot and killed a 25-year-old in a late Friday night shooting in Virginia Beach, Virginia, failed to trigger his body camera.
“The officer was wearing his camera, but for some reason it hasn’t been activated yet,” Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Newdigit said at a news conference on Saturday night.
According to CNN, the Virginia State Police Department has not revealed the identity of the officer who fired the fatal bullet at Donovan Lynch, a 25-year-old black man.
The police chief added that the police department had not yet questioned the officer involved in the incident.
Rumors spread that Donovan Lynch was unarmed, to which the police chief responded, “A firearm was found in the vicinity of the scene of the accident.”
The police officer who allegedly fired the fatal bullet was assigned administrative duties during the investigation.
CNN reported that ten people were injured by firearms, two of whom died, in three different shooting incidents Friday night.
Three people have been arrested in connection with an initial shooting incident unrelated to the other two that claimed the lives of Donovan Lynch and Deshaila Harris, a 28-year-old woman.
CNN reported that the shooting broke out after a battle in a group that had gathered on Atlantic Avenue.
“We know it started with a physical fight, a screaming match that turned into a physical fight, which, at a certain point, escalated into a penalty shootout,” confirms Paul Newdigit.
No one was killed in the first shooting, but three men, ages 22, 20, and 18, were arrested facing seven counts of criminal assault.
When the police attended the shooting scene, they heard more gunshots nearby and identified Deshaila Harris who had been shot.
The police chief said that the officers believed the 28-year-old was “an innocent victim who may have fallen in the crossfire.”
Nearby, the shooting occurred between the officer and Donovan Lynch when an officer in uniform confronted an armed citizen who led to the shooting of a police officer, according to a statement issued by the Virginia Beach Police Department.
