ROANOKE, Va. – Patrick Crimmis was sitting on his front porch near the entrance to the Ashton Heights apartment complex when an officer-involved shooting happened on Thursday.
“I just heard, ‘pow pow pow,‘” Crimmis said.
Crimmis said there were at least three shots fired. He didn’t bother trying to run inside from his front porch when he heard the shots.
“If they’re after me, they’re going to go in there, too,” Crimmis said. “I read the Bible. It talks about perilous times near the end, and I believe we are near the end.”
Roanoke Police Chief Sam Roman said officers opened fire after two men they were trying to talk to ran away and one of them shot at the officers.
One of the two men was hit; the other man got away.
“Obviously, the officers are very upset. I don’t think there’s any officer who feels good about having to use his or her weapon,” Roman said.
While the shooting was happening, children played nearby.
Neighbors who live on the road leading into the apartment complex who didn’t want to go on camera Friday told 10 News their biggest concern is one day the children may get caught up.
According to police, officers believed the two men may have been involved in what neighbors say was a gang-related shooting at the apartment complex Monday night.
Police told 10 News that around 9:30 p.m. Monday they found a man outside at the complex who had been shot.
He was taken to the hospital with what police describe as non-life-threatening injuries.
As of Friday evening, no charges or arrests had been made in either shooting.
Friday afternoon, 10 News called the leasing office at the apartment complex for comment. We were told to call the corporate office, but we did not get a response.
The names of the two officers and the names of the two men they were trying to talk to had not been released as of Friday evening.