RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) —A man is in the hospital tonight after being shot by police when he approached them with a knife on Saturday night.
The incident unfolded as police were on scene in a Richmond neighborhood trying to respond to a car crash. Richmond police arrived at Third Avenue near Front Street around 11:34 on Saturday, April 22, where a car coming down Third Avenue hit two cars that were parked on the side of the street.
As police were responding to the crash, police say that a man holding a knife approached one of the officers. Police told the man to drop what he had in his hand and stop approaching. When the man did not stop walking toward him, the officer shot him.
The man was taken to the hospital with life threating injuries. Police have yet to confirm if the man is connected to the crash.
The officer who shot the man is on administrative leave, which is normal procedure after a shooting.
Two adults involved in the crash were taken to the hospital and are expected to recover.
Multiple cars were also damaged in the shooting.
Neighbors who saw the incident happen say that they saw the man approach the officer but didn’t see what was in his hand.
One neighbor whose cars that was hit by gunfire says that she knows the man who was shot. She claims he was on drugs at the time of the incident and had been wandering up and down the street acting erratically before the crash happened.
8News reached out to Richmond police, who were not able to provide any more information about this incident at this time.
For now, anyone who knows something about the shooting is asked to contact Richmond Police.
