NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — A mental health call in Newport News ended with a man shooting at officers Tuesday night.
Earlier Wednesday, Police Chief Steve Drew released a timeline of events.
Drew told 10 On Your Side the wife of 42-year-old Jean Alcindor called 911 last night concerned that he didn’t sound like himself, had a history of drug use and may have overdosed. Police responded within minutes and spent the next two-and-a-half hours trying to de-escalate the situation.
Drew said three officers arrived at Park Place Commons at 8:13 p.m. Alcindor was in a car in a parking garage and was drinking with a gun within view. Drew says two minutes after officers arrived, Alcindor fired the gun inside the car.
“The holiday season, one of the things we always talk about is individuals that may be struggling through some things,” Drew said. “You never know what’s going on in someone’s life.”
Drew says officers tried negotiating with Alcindor over the phone for almost two hours. At 10:29 p.m. he exited the car holding the firearm and fired a round. A few seconds latter he fired a shot at officers. Drew says a struggle began and another round was fired, striking an officer’s taser.
“I’m thankful that none of the officers were injured,” Drew said Wednesday afternoon.
Drew said officers returned fire. Alcindor was struck twice and received immediate medical attention.
“Nobody in this profession wants to be called to use deadly force,” Drew said.
Drew said he spoke with Alcindor’s wife this morning and visited the man in the hospital.
“We had a short conversation and I told her that she matters to me and I just wanted to check on her, Drew said. “I did not go in the room but I did put eyes on him directly.”
The three officers involved were put on administrative leave. All three had activated their body cameras during the incident.
“The things I saw and the measure they took, the measure they took to try to de-escalate before that had to occur was just extraordinary,” Drew said.
Drew’s Critical Incident Stress Management team receives training every 90 days. Dr. Janell Royster, a licensed professional counselor supervisor, runs the training for Drew’s officers.
“Whether it’s serious mental health illness, trauma-informed care, we educate them on different aspects on mental health so they have a whole person wellness so when they are responding to an event such as what happened they can come in with a clear mind and open communication and they have all of the information they need so that they can manage the situation,” Royster told 10 On Your Side, “The officers are very resilient. They’re trained every single day to respond to these types of events.”
Alcindor has serious injuries, but is stable. He is facing three counts of attempted malicious wounding, three counts of felony use of a firearm and drug charges.