LYNCHBURG, Va. – The use of force in an officer-involved shooting that occurred in September of 2023 has been deemed justifiable; therefore, no criminal charges are warranted, according to the Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Lynchburg, Bethany Harrison.
The incident occurred on Sept. 27 and involved Ashley Biggs Neeley, who was 35 years old at the time of the offense.
[READ MORE: Lynchburg woman shot by police in May, shot again for attempted knife attack]
That day, authorities were called to the 2100 block of Park Avenue for the report of an assault involving a knife – the caller said a woman was chasing a man in Miller Park with the knife.
After arriving at the scene, officers found Neeley in what they described as an agitated state sitting at a bus stop, VSP said.
As officers attempted to calm her down, she pulled out a knife, stood up, and advanced on officers, which prompted one officer to deploy their department-issued taser and another to fire their department-issued handgun, hitting Neely in the right side of her head at her ear, according to previous reports.
Neeley then fell to the ground and dropped the knife. Shortly thereafter, Neeley was transported to the Lynchburg General Hospital.
In the review, Harrison said the use of force was justified given that the officer believed his life and the lives of his fellow officers were in danger.
Furthermore, the officer who deployed his taser “did so because the background of his aim was the traffic circle and he was concerned for bystanders” and because, he too, believed his life and the lives of the other officers were in danger.
Neeley was also the subject of an officer-involved shooting in May 2023, which you can read more about here.
You can read the full letter by Bethany Harrison below:
