A man died after being shot by police near the intersection of Hampton and Terminal Boulevards in Norfolk Thursday afternoon.
Medics brought Santonio Lee, 45, to the hospital after a shootout with police, where he died.
The Norfolk Police Department said they chased Lee’s car after discovering multiple warrants for his arrest. Lee was wanted in Norfolk for malicious wounding, use of a firearm, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. There were also outstanding charges against him in Virginia Beach.
Lucy Cantu lives near the scene and told 13News Now that she heard two rounds of gunshots.
“I just heard a pop, pop, pop and I think there were six at first,” she recalled. "And then after that I heard six more.”
With railroad tracks nearby, Cantu added she heard bullets ricochet off train cars.
“I did hear a couple of them bounce off the train because the train was in between what was going on,” she said.
The police officers involved are on administrative duty pending the results of Virginia State Police’s investigation into the incident. From there, Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi will decide if the officers were justified in shooting at Lee.
“The analysis, when I have to say whether the use of force was justified,” explained Fatehi, “is did they use force reasonably thinking they, or someone nearby to them, was about to be the subject of deadly force.”
This is the second police shooting in Norfolk this year. The first happened on Jan. 18 in the Wards Corner area. Last year, there were none. Fatehi says he doesn’t see this as a concerning trend.
“Every one of these cases is different,” Fatehi said. “Yes, we’ve had two this year, but two very different situations. None of the officers involved were the same people, none of the non-officers were the same people.”
In addition to these outstanding charges, Lee’s criminal record was extensive. In 2001, he pleaded guilty to eluding police. In 2009, he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Officials say he fired a gun during an argument, and a stray bullet hit and killed a man in a nearby home.