A police body-worn camera shows that the hostage situation turned fatal

The shooting occurred after officers responded to a 911 call for an “emerging mental issue.”

Police arrived at a home in the Libby Hill neighborhood of East Richmond around 7:30 p.m

In the hallway of the house, police begin talking to Kyle Harris, 36, who repeatedly tells them he “has a hostage” and that “he’s armed” when police ask him to come to the door. Harris cannot be seen from the entrance, but you can hear him accusing his wife of cheating on him with another man.

At that point, police called for backup and entered the home.

“You’re going to have to shoot me,” Harris is heard saying at one point.

“We’re not trying to find out, okay?” an officer responds.

A few minutes later, Harris says he plans to kill a police officer tonight. At one point he says he will “slit an officer’s throat.”

Police repeatedly say they just want to talk to Harris. Around 7:57 p.m., police entered the house with a negotiator and an officer armed with a ballistic shield. An officer can be heard saying, “He’s got an axe!”

The lead officer smashes open the bedroom door with the shield, leaving Harris lying horizontally across a bed. A police officer shoots Harris twice. Two officers then deployed tasers.

The video, which goes blurry, appears to show Harris bleeding from his torso. Harris died five hours later at a local hospital, police said.

In a news release, police spokesman James Mercante said officers entered the home because they feared for the hostage’s safety. The woman was found unharmed, Mercante said.

In 2023, Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards promised the public that the department would release body-worn camera footage of police shootings no later than two weeks after they occurred. The Richmond Police Department is the only police department in central Virginia with such a policy.

In a statement accompanying the release of the images, Mercante wrote that the department’s goal is to increase transparency with the public.

“The Richmond Police Department continues to work with various stakeholders to provide the community with a clear and unbiased account of critical incidents,” Mercante said.

Harris’ shooting remains subject to an internal investigation by the department and will be reviewed by Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette McEachin, who will determine whether charges will be filed against officers involved in Harris’ death.

Earlier this year, McEachin declined to file charges against the officers who killed 20-year-old Kenneth Sharp on March 31.

Video of that incident showed Sharp leaving a car with a gun in his handafter which the police ask him to drop the gun and then shoot Sharp four times.