WAVY Staff – VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney Colin Stolle says that an officer-involved shooting from last September was justified.
The shooting took place September 5, 2015 outside of a 7-Eleven, and resulted in the deaths of 35-year-old Angelo Delano Perry and 28-year-old India Kager.
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The Commonwealth's Attorney's Office investigated the use of deadly force by four Virginia Beach police officers in the shooting. Stolle shared the findings of an investigation in a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
"It was Mr. Perry who chose to change the circumstances that night when he opened fired at police," Stolle said.
Police were following Perry after getting a tip from confidential informant.
"At that point in time he told them that a Virginia Beach resident was the subject of a hit."
Document: Commonwealth's Attorney Investigation Conclusion
Based on the investigation, Stolle says the four officers involved in the shooting did not violate the law, and will not be facing charges.
Undercover officers tailed Perry by using pinging his cell phone. His girlfriend India Kager was driving the car. They say he was on the way to the potential victim's home. At some point officers thought Perry figured out they were tailing behind so they decided stop him at the 7-Eleven.
"They identified themselves as SWAT officers by yelling, ‘Police! Show me your hands,' repeatedly as they approached Perry," Stolle added.
The officers then saw the passenger side glass explode and noticed a gun in Perry's hand. He was firing so they fired back.
Stolle says Perry fired four rounds at officers. Four of the officers on the scene returned fire, shooting a total of 30 rounds at Perry.
During this firefight, Perry was shot between 15 and 20 times, while Kager was hit seven times. The officers stopped firing after they saw that Perry had lowered his gun.
"I do not find the 30 rounds to be excessive in any way," Stolle said.
He noted that all of the officers who fired weapons at the scene were aiming at Perry, and not Kager. According to Stolle, Perry put her in harm's way by adjusting his location in the car — which put her in the line of fire.
"He changed his position so that his feet were on the passenger door and he had placed his back against India Kager who was driver the vehicle," Stolle said. "He placed Ms. Kager directly in the line of fire of the officers. All of the officers were aiming their fire at Mr. Perry. None of the officers targeted Ms. Kager."
Both Perry and Kager were pronounced dead at the scene.
The four officers were identified Wednesday by Stolle. They are S. Ferreira, K. Zimmerman, J. Thorson and D. Roys. Stolle says he withheld the names for the safety of the officers and their families.
Police recovered two guns from the car. Officers tell 10 On Your Side the guns had been used in two murders and a home invasion.
On Wednesday, authorities also released surveillance footage from the 7-Eleven during the night of shooting. Stolle said his only issue with releasing the footage was that it was out of focus.