“This is still an active investigation, and we do not currently have any further information to release. Out of respect for the family and their request, the victim’s name will not be released at this time,” sheriff’s spokesman Ryan Wilbur told us.
A string of questions we sent to the department about this story have gone unanswered.
The sheriff’s office closed a portion of Route 1 at Bells Hill Road for 14 hours as it investigated the incident.
Stafford County Sheriff David Decatur will begin his third term on January 1, 2024.
Here’s the department’s incident issued on December 16, 2023:
At 12:20 a.m., deputies responded to a disturbance in the 2400 block of Richmond Highway (Route 1). As deputies made contact with the complainant, an adult male resident of the home brandished a rifle towards the deputies. Deputies repeatedly ordered the man to drop the weapon, but he failed to comply. Deputies fired their weapons, and the suspect was pronounced deceased at the scene.
There were no other injuries at the scene, and southbound Richmond Highway was closed this morning for the investigation. Deputies are on routine administrative leave while the case is investigated.
