PORTSMOUTH, Va. — A Portsmouth man was found guilty Friday afternoon of shooting a police officer in 2017.
The unanimous jury decision comes four years after a separate jury first found him guilty of the crime in 2018 for the case's first trial.
Will Patterson Jr. was only 15 years old at the time of the crime. He was found guilty on all 12 charges he faced, including:
- Attempted aggravated murder,
- Aggravated malicious wounding
- Malicious injury to a law enforcement officer
- 3 counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony
- 4 counts of shooting in public with bodily injury
- Carrying a concealed weapon
- Possession of a firearm by a minor
In November of 2017, Officer Angelina Baaklini White was in her patrol car when she spotted Patterson. She recognized Patterson as a runaway and tried to detain him.
That's when Patterson reportedly pulled a gun from his waistband and started shooting.
Closing arguments from prosecutors with the office of Portsmouth's Commonwealth's Attorney Stephanie Morales asserted that Patterson had fired upon Baaklini with intent, saying that someone could not fire six shots from a loaded weapon without intent.
Patterson's attorneys argued back, saying that Patterson was more reactionary because of him not feeling safe and that he was trying to escape the situation.
“We respect their decision, but we wished they embraced how quickly things developed in those few seconds. It was disappointing to us in that regard. But as we said in closing, we’re sad this happened, so is Will, and now we’re focusing on sentencing," Attorney Nathan Chapman said.
“I really don’t think they took into consideration his age. He was 15. I think teenagers can be impulsive, so I wish they would’ve thought about that more," Attorney Artisha Gregg said.
The trial took place from Sept. 7 to 9. Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Haille Hogfeldt and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Camden Freeman comprised the trial team.
“I applaud the bravery of the victim, who was harmed while serving our community, and I commend every witness and participant in this process who was impacted by the defendant’s malicious acts," Morales said in a news release. "I also applaud the efforts of my attorneys and the jurors who performed a vital service to our Portsmouth community this week. Our team works diligently to seek justice for victims of violent crime every single day and this week’s efforts by ACAs Hogfeldt and Freeman were no different.”
Gregg mentioned that they would like to incorporate a child psychology report moving forward in the sentencing process so a judge can better understand Patterson's decision-making process that afternoon.
Patterson will return to the court for sentencing on Nov. 9.