NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — After the second of two shootings involving the Newport News Police Department in the span of one month, Chief Steve Drew responded to the media Tuesday afternoon and defended the actions of his officers, calling the latest incident a situation that took the safety of others into account and relied on "split second" decision making.
On Jan. 5, a Newport News tactical officer shot and killed 43-year-old David Noteboom after an hours-long barricade situation at a Newport News mobile home park.
That Thursday prior, officers were already dispatched to the same location to respond to an armed individual who was possibly suicidal, but it ended when officers could not make contact with Noteboom. Chief Drew confirmed at Tuesday's press conference that an emergency custody order that later expired was active for Thursday's initial response.
The next day, officers again responded on a follow-up welfare check in addition to serving a warrant for an arrest originating out of the City of Chesapeake to Noteboom.
That warrant was for a failure to appear in court for a separate Grand Larceny charge.
Chief Drew said that attempts were made by officers to communicate with both Noteboom and a woman inside a residence, but cell phone calls and loudspeaker announcements did not receive a response.
“What we know is there was no response to a phone call for over an hour and 15 minutes. There was no response to a PA system calling people for over 20-25 minutes. We did hear screaming and yelling, and at that point believed someone is in distress. Or could be," Drew said.
Officers moved inside the residence only after hearing continued screaming from inside, in which Drew said officers believed they may have been dealing with a hostage element to the response at that time.
"Wish we had a crystal ball and could tell what was going on in people's minds. Technology to see through walls and see what the situation is. We didn't have that," he said.
This shooting comes weeks after a separate police-involved shooting in Newport News this December when an armed man experiencing a mental health crisis was shot by officers on Cleveland Avenue. That individual, who was hospitalized but did not die, fired shots in the direction of officers before they shot 42-year-old Jean Alcindor.
"Similarities are individuals going through a mental crisis, and the individuals have a firearm. There is no police-involved shooting that follows, exactly the same," Chief Drew said.
"That first shooting is an individual approached in an aggressive manner a group of officers. In this situation, there were two individuals. Who officers believed is a hostage, a female struggling and she's in the line of fire. When we talk about training, we're trying to do the best we can to make sure she's out of the way."
"Can't stop thinking about it, what I could have done better"
Michelle Ellers is the woman inside the residence at the time of the incident, who described herself as having an on-and-off relationship with Noteboom for about six years.
That day, Ellers tells 13News Now she was attempting to wrangle the weapon away from Noteboom, after informing officers he had a history of mental health complications.
She also noted she had told officers not to come in for fear that Noteboom would harm himself.
"He pointed a gun to his head again. I screamed, and the officers tried to open the door and come in the first time. I said do not come in he’s going to shoot himself," she said before the Tuesday news conference.
According to Ellers, she did not personally see Noteboom point the gun at her or responding officers that day, which leads her to still question the de-escalation methods of the response from NNPD.
“'[David] told me it was clear, he didn’t want to harm me or anyone else. Or else he would have if he wanted to, because I was there for hours trying to wrestle the gun away.”
Were there alternative response methods present?
When asked whether there were other non-armed officers present who may have provided alternative methods to handling a mental health crisis at the scene during this response, Chief Drew said attempts were made to contact other avenues such as the 988 system.
Ultimately, he says the situation did not lend itself to other avenues of response.
"I can tell you we reached out to the Community Services Board, and the 988 [MARCUS Alert system] before we ever went to that location. We have to remember those are individuals who have much more training with those crisis individuals. But it's concerning because on their part, which I understand, you're dealing with and police are dealing with an individual who is armed in a hostage-type situation. We had a conversation, but they were open about that not being the place for 'us' at that point," Chief Drew said.