LYNCHBURG, Va. – There are a lot of questions when it comes to any officer-involved shooting.
Tod Burke is a former police officer who taught criminal justice at Radford University. Burke said officers are told to use their firearms if there is an active safety threat to themselves or the public.
“Officers make these decisions in a split second,” Burke said.
A Lynchburg police officer was involved in a shooting on Friday morning that sent one woman to the hospital. The call came in for officers to respond to a woman assaulting a Child Protective Service worker at a home.
Lynchburg Police later released information regarding the case. The release stated, “When she opened the door, she attacked the officers with knives. In response, an LPD officer discharged a department-issued handgun striking the woman.”
“If all the sudden the person is coming and attacking them and closing the gap … sometimes the officer doesn’t have a choice,” Burke said.
Caseworkers have difficult jobs dealing with some of these cases and take trainings to learn how to react. A manual explains some of the things caseworkers need to keep in mind in terms of safety.
“Often you are going to someone else’s home. You’re going to their territory. They are familiar with their home,” Burke said.
Officer-involved shootings are typically handed over to Virginia State Police to investigate. Burke said at the end of the day, it’s still heartbreaking even if it is justified.
“Anytime you have an officer-involved shooting, it’s not good … whether it’s considered justified by law or not,” Burke said.