

Trooper and shooter dead after Virginia bus-station shooting

virginia shooting richmond
Police officers and rescue officials gathered outside the Greyhound bus station on Thursday in Richmond, Virginia.
Steve Helber/AP Photo
A gunman and a state trooper are dead after a shooting at a Greyhound bus station in Richmond, Virginia.

Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said in a news conference that a uniformed Virginia state trooper was talking to a man inside the station when the man drew a handgun and shot the trooper multiple times, leading two troopers nearby to return fire. The shooter died after being transported to the VCU Medical Center.

The trooper who was shot, 37-year-old Chad Dermyer, was also transported to the hospital. At a news conference on Thursday night it was announced that Dermyer had died of his injuries.

Additionally, two women were transported with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. It was not immediately clear how they got their wounds.

A firearm was recovered at the scene.

About a dozen state troopers were at the bus station as part of a training exercise. Virginia State Police Col. W. Steven Flaherty said during the Thursday-evening news conference that the training was on criminal interdiction.

"The training encompasses looking for suspicious activity," Flaherty said, "and in today's exercise, if you see some suspicious activity, you go over and engage and have a conversation."

He continued: "That was what was taking place here, and in very early stages of the conversation is when the other subject pulled a weapon and shot [Dermyer] multiple times."

Flaherty did not have details on a potential motive or the specific circumstances under which Dermyer had approached the shooter.

In a response to a question from the press, he said it appeared the shooter and Dermyer had "casually bumped into one another" and had been speaking for a matter of roughly 30 seconds. He noted that while the shooter had a "history of charges," the state police had not yet determined what convictions he may have had.

Greyhound announced that the station would be closed until further notice and that it would be cooperating with the investigation "and providing any information they may need, including video surveillance that was captured."

Initial reports had indicated that two troopers were among six injured, with one trooper dead, but this information was recanted at the news conference later on Thursday afternoon.

Photos from the scene showed multiple ambulances and police vehicles surrounding the bus station. NBC12's Mike Valerio reported that Virginia State Police were leading the investigation.

Update: This story initially included reports that six were injured and one state trooper was dead. This information was later recanted by a police spokeswoman at a news conference.

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