NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — An investigation is underway in Newport News after police shot and killed a man during an armed bank robbery.
Investigators later identified the suspect as 39-year-old Stephan Williams from Hampton. Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said Williams and two other people robbed Navy Federal Credit Union at gunpoint on Saturday afternoon.
Drew said law enforcement caught up to the trio minutes after the robbery, and while two of the suspects surrendered to police officers, Drew said Williams did not.
"An individual gets out, in his hand is a firearm. He points that firearm as he is getting out of the vehicle and in the direction of the officers and the officers fired," said Drew.
Now those police officers are on paid administrative leave as an investigation unfolds. Chief Drew held a press conference on Saturday night to give more details and to assure the public that the other two suspects are in police custody.
Just days before this deadly incident, Chief Drew stood at the same podium at Newport News Police Department headquarters to highlight the city's decrease in major crimes.
"We remember that each one of these numbers represents a person, a family," Drew said at that Wednesday press conference. "But I think we can clap for what we've accomplished, which is that homicides are down to nine, compared to 20 which is where we were at this time last year."
RELATED: Newport News mayor, police chief speak about city's 'reduction in gun violence' so far this year
Drew announced the city had seen a 55% decrease in the number of homicides between January 1 and July 21 this year in comparison to the same time period last year. That's a reduction from 20 homicides in the first half of 2023 to nine homicides for the first half of this year.
For overall non-fatal shootings, there were 52 during the first half of 2023 and 36 so far this year, said Drew.
However, this number does not include police-involved shootings.
So far, 13News Now has recorded at least three police-involved shootings that happened within the City of Newport News. This includes a deadly domestic violence incident, in which police shot and killed a man who allegedly threatened a woman in January. Police officers shot and killed a woman in June who made deadly threats to 911 dispatchers and refused to drop her gun during an armed confrontation.
Drew said he wished Saturday's incident had played out differently, but that he stands by his officers.
"I wish the individual in the backseat would have complied like the other two in the vehicle," he said. "But I'm more grateful that no other citizens got hurt, and that all of our officers get to go home today."
The two suspects who surrendered are in Newport News Police custody. Drew said criminal charges are pending.