ROANOKE, Va. – The three police officers involved in a Northwest Roanoke shooting in May that hospitalized a man are not facing criminal charges.
Donald Caldwell, the Roanoke City Commonwealth’s Attorney, released a statement Tuesday regarding the shooting, saying that the police officers, J.A. Arellano, K.M. Maxey and M.D. Garland, will not be criminally charged in the shooting that injured Gary Haston the morning of May 22.
This decision comes after Caldwell reviewed police reports, 911 calls, officer bodycam footage, witness statements, forensic reports and visited the scene of the shooting.
On that morning, records show officers responded to a Roanoke home in the 900 block of Glenn Ridge Road NW for the second time in less than three hours for reports of a man, later determined as Haston, who was trespassing the property and would not leave.
Officers attempted to speak with Haston after they were called the second time; however, reports say he would not comply with their verbal instruction, and repeatedly said he had a gun.
Caldwell’s statement says Haston continued to threaten the officers during their 10-minute exchange before he made a “sudden move,” leading Officer Arrellano to fire one round at him. Officers Maxey and Garland followed suit and immediately fired five rounds each at Haston, striking him multiple times, according to the statement.
Officials say Haston was later hospitalized but has since survived his injuries.
Caldwell determined that the officers were in a position where they “reasonably believed that they and others were facing immediate, imminent possibility of death or serious bodily injury.” He later says the officers were “justified in using deadly force.”
From what we reported on May 22, the officers involved were not injured in the incident and they were placed on administrative assignment per the Roanoke Police Department policy.