2 Virginia Beach Police Officers Shot and Killed During a Traffic Stop: 'We're All Hurting'

Two officers with the Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD) are dead after being killed in the line of duty, according to authorities.

The VBPD announced the news in a post on X on Saturday, Feb. 22, stating that the two officers — later identified in a press conference as Cameron Girvin, 25, and Christopher Reese, 30 — were “shot” on Friday, Feb. 21. 

Police said in their X statement that the incident remains an “active investigation,” and there was “no active threat” to the public. The department further asked for the public’s “patience and understanding” as they work to “put the pieces of this tragic event together,” “make notifications” and “grieve the loss of two of our own.”

In the press conference, shared by WAVY-TV on Saturday, Feb. 22, VBPD Chief Paul Neudigate said that the officers were involved in a traffic stop near the intersection of Lynnhaven Parkway and Wendfield Drive near an apartment complex at around 11:30 p.m. local time when the incident occurred.

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Neudigate said the officers “observed” a car with an expired plate. When they “attempted to stop” the vehicle, the driver “failed to yield” and so the officers followed the vehicle to a “dead-end” street. When the officers approached the vehicle, the male driver repeatedly “refused” to exit the vehicle, before eventually stepping out and engaging in a “tussle” with the officers.

During the tussle, the driver pulled out a “pistol from his pocket” and “immediately shot both VBPD officers,” Neudigate said. The officers “fell to the ground” and once on the ground, the driver shot them each a second time, he added.

Both officers received “life-saving measures” from responding officers and EMS before they were transported to the hospital. Reese was pronounced dead “just past midnight,” while Girvin was pronounced dead at around 4:30 a.m., Neudigate said.

Police said they found the suspect in a shed behind the nearby apartment complex “suffering from a fatal gunshot wound to the head.” Neudigate said a preliminary investigation “at this point in time” led authorities to believe that the gunshot wound was “self-inflicted,” and their officers did not “fire shots.”

The suspect was identified by police as 42-year-old John McCoy III.

“I’m going to be honest, we’re all hurting,” Neudigate said. “We’ve got families that have lost a loved one in the prime of their life and they are completely devastated.”

“We’ve got an officer that is 25 years old and another one that is 30 with such a future ahead of them senselessly taken… we’re hurting. The department’s hurting, the city’s hurting,” he added.

In a social media tribute, Va. congresswoman Jen Kiggans said the Virginia Beach community was mourning the loss together. “Our hearts are heavy today as we mourn the loss of two heroic Virginia Beach police officers who were tragically killed in the line of duty last night,” she wrote on X.

Kiggans added, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families, the Virginia Beach police department, and the law enforcement community.”

Senator Bill DeSteph, who represents parts of Virginia Beach, also shared on X that he was “so terribly saddened” by the “profound loss.”