RPD: Man killed in Sunday night’s officer-involved shooting identified

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Richmond Police have identified a man that was killed in an officer-involved shooting Sunday night.

On Monday morning, Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith addressed the ongoing investigation into the officer-involved shooting at Richmond Police Headquarters.

Chief Smith said Officer Richard Redford and Officer Shannon McGarva responded to a call for an “armed individual” on someone’s porch along the 1200 block of Garber Street around 10:45 p.m. on Sunday.

“The officers came from the Third Precinct. It took them about 20 minutes to get there, and this individual stayed on the porch this entire time,” said Chief Smith.

Chief Smith said when officers arrived on the scene, the armed suspect made “aggressive actions” toward the officers.

When asked what type of “aggressive actions” the man made towards the police officers, Chief Smith replied,” “He pointed a gun at the officers. The officers gave repeated commands for him to drop the weapon, drop the weapon. He did not, and that’s when the officers fired their firearms.”

The man was identified as Lester Carlton Epps, 58, of Henrico, Va. He was taken to the hospital where he later died.

According to body camera footage, Chief Smith believes this shooting happened less than a minute after the officers arrived on the scene.

Chief Smith said the ongoing investigation would take a closer look at body camera footage, security surveillance from cameras in the neighborhood to see what led up to the original call, and the officer-involved shooting.

“As well as just canvassing the area and the homes around there to see what other video and what other statements we can find out about the subject as well as look into his past to see maybe what may have caused this or what led him up to this particular incident,” Chief Smith said.

Chief Smith said the man’s loaded handgun was recovered from the scene and taken for analysis. Chief Smith also believes the armed suspect attempted to fire his weapon.

“We believe he attempted to fire his weapon. He did point it at the officers,” Chief Smith said.

Chief Smith also said they’re waiting for more clarity on whether or not there was a misfire.

“Until it goes to our crime lab and that is examined, we’re going to hold off to say whether it was a misfire or not.

At this time, Chief Smith also said it’s not clear whether the homeowner and man knew each other and the explanation behind what led the man to the porch.

“This gentleman seemed to have did something that precipitated a call to the police, that precipitated a 911 call and became aggressive upon the officers getting there,” Chief Smith said. “You may even call it an ambush. It’s very possible, but we have no idea what his actions were, but we do that his aggression went up upon the officer’s arrival.”

Chief Smith also said the homeowner was inside their home at the time of the officer-involved shooting.

Chief Smith said the last officer-involved shooting in Richmond happened in 2020 on New Year’s Eve.

Tracy Foard, who lives along Garber Street, heard gunshots while inside her house.

“They were starting to put crime tape, and we saw a body lying in our neighbor’s front yard,” she said. “There was one shot and a pause followed by a rapid succession of shots that almost sounded like a magazine being emptied, so it had to have been four, five, maybe six shots.”

Both officers have been placed on administrative leave for two days as the investigation into this shooting continues.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Major Crimes Detective M. Young (804) 646-3926 or contact Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000.

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