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Two Virginia Beach police officers shot dead while 'defenseless' during late-night traffic stop

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Two Virginia Beach police officers shot dead while 'defenseless' during late-night traffic stop

Two young police officers in Virginia are dead after a late-night traffic stop ended in a fatal shooting.

Officers Cameron Girvin, 25, and Christopher Reese, 30, were pronounced dead at hospitals after the shooting, according to Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate.

The pair, who were riding together Friday night, pulled over a car for an expired license plate at about 11:27 p.m., Neudigate said during a news conference Saturday.

The traffic stop happened near the intersection of Lynnhaven Parkway and Wendfield Drive in Virginia Beach, next to an apartment complex.

Virginia Beach police are investigating Friday night’s deadly shooting of two fellow officers in Virginia Beach, Va.  (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

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Both officers approached the vehicle, and the male driver, later identified as convicted felon John McCoy III, was immediately argumentative and refused to get out of the car.

At some point, he got out of the car, and there was a “tussle” between the officers and McCoy.

McCoy pulled a pistol from his pocket and immediately shot the two officers. 

While they were on the ground “defenseless,” he shot them each a second time, according to Neudigate.

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Virginia Beach police investigate Friday night’s deadly shooting of two fellow officers Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025 in Virginia Beach, Va.  (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

Officers found McCoy in a shed directly behind the apartment complex with a fatal gunshot wound to the head less than an hour after the shooting.

The gunshot wound appeared to be self-inflicted, according to authorities.

“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, another one that is 30 with such a future ahead of them, senselessly taken.”

While officials are still sorting out the motive, they said McCoy may have acted because he had a gun, a criminal offense as a felon.

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“We do know from his criminal history, he has one felony conviction from 2009, so it’s not recent, but it does make him a felon,” Neudigate said. “A felon with a firearm would be a new felony charge.”

While there was another person in the car with McCoy at the time of the traffic stop, no one else will be charged in the shootings, he said.

This incident was documented on a body-worn camera and the in-car camera, according to Neudigate.

Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate provides an update on the shooting deaths of two of his officers. (WTKR)

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“We do have video of all of it, and I will tell you, it is quite horrific,” he said.

Girvin and Reese began working for the department in 2020. 

Prior to working for the Virginia Beach Police Department, Reese was a deputy sheriff with the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office, from 2019 to 2022.

“They were dedicated, determined peace officers and public servants,” Neudigate said. “They had stellar reputations in our department and their work ethic — beyond reproach. We asked them to go out in this community and keep us safe from evil. And last night, evil found them.”

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Both officers were accompanied during a procession to the medical examiner’s office.

On Saturday morning, the department doubled all its officers up in cars, so there are no single officers on the road.

“What this does is give our officers the ability to have someone in that car with them to help process, help try to make sense of what occurred, and to make them feel that they have a semblance of safety,” Neudigate said.

People gather on a beach in Virginia Beach, Va., July 2020. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)

Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer said the city is “heartbroken.”

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“We mourn the loss of two of our own brave Virginia Beach police officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice,” Dyer said during the news conference. “Their dedication to protecting our community will never be forgotten. 

“No words can ease the pain and loss as we mourn. I ask our community to come together. Please keep these officers, their families, friends and loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.”

Congresswoman Jen Kiggans posted on X to express her condolences.

“This morning our entire community mourns the tragic loss of two brave Virginia Beach police officers who were killed in the line of duty last night,” Kiggans wrote.

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GOP Rep Nancy Mace introduces ‘Death Penalty for Child Rapists Act’

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GOP Rep Nancy Mace introduces ‘Death Penalty for Child Rapists Act’

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Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., has introduced a bill to authorize the death penalty as a potential punishment for the sexual abuse of children.

“We have zero mercy for child rapists. Those who prey on our most vulnerable deserve the harshest consequence we can deliver,” Mace said in a statement.

The proposal is aptly called the “Death Penalty for Child Rapists Act.”

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., announces she will run for South Carolina governor during a press conference at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, on Aug. 4, 2025. (Tracy Glantz/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

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“No predator should be allowed to walk away from the most unthinkable crimes against children,” Mace noted. 

“This bill is simple. Rape a child and you don’t get a second chance, you get the death penalty. We will never apologize for protecting America’s children,” Mace added.

The bill would put capital punishment on the table as an option to punish those who sexually abuse children.

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Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., attends the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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“INTRODUCING: The Death Penalty for Child Rapists Act to amend Title 18 to authorize the death penalty for aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse of a minor and abusive sexual contact offenses against children. It will also amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to authorize the death penalty for the rape of a child,” she said in a post on X.

“We’ve spent months fighting to expose Jeffrey Epstein’s network of powerful predators. We’ve demanded accountability and pushed for transparency. Now we’re making sure anyone who rapes a child faces the ultimate consequence,” she noted.

Mace has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since early 2021. 

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She is one of the candidates currently running in the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary.

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Virginia Democrats talk affordability — and vote to nearly triple their own pay

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Virginia Democrats talk affordability — and vote to nearly triple their own pay

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The Virginia State Senate and its Democratic majority may have voted to nearly triple their pay if a provision inserted into their final budget survives the House reconciliation process and reaches Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk.

The development comes as Spanberger has centered her campaign on “affordability,” with Richmond Democrats echoing that they are working to improve their constituents’ personal finances.

Virginia’s legislature itself was founded as a part-time, gentleman’s chamber, where lawmakers would return to their day jobs when Richmond wasn’t holding session.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signs executive orders. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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Proponents of raising the current 1988-established salary of $18,000 for senators and $17,640 for delegates say the structure restricts who can afford to serve as a lawmaker today. Lawmakers also qualify for a $237 per diem, mileage reimbursements, and coverage of office, meeting and other expenses.

Senators’ new salary would be $50,000.

Republicans were quick to criticize the final budget, with the Virginia Senate Minority Caucus saying in a statement that “teachers got a 3% raise, but Democrats give themselves 300%.” The actual increase would be closer to 178%, though one could say the new salary would be 300% of the original. 

“The affordability hoax just gets worse and worse,” the caucus said, adding that the chamber’s majority killed a repeal of the car tax — something GOP gubernatorial nominee Winsome Sears ran on — while increasing the state budget by $1 billion overall.

Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham, told WVTF it is the “wrong time” to address lawmaker pay.

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 “It’s supposed to be affordability for working families across Virginia, not members of the General Assembly,” he said.

Virginia’s legislature — the oldest continuous legislative body in the New World — has been making laws since its inception as the House of Burgesses in Colonial Williamsburg, where Spanberger gave the Democratic Party’s State of the Union response.

In her speech, she claimed President Donald Trump is the one “enriching himself, his family and his friends” and said Republicans are the ones “making your life more expensive.”

“I traveled to every corner of Virginia, and I heard the same pressing concern everywhere: costs are too high. In housing, healthcare, energy, and childcare,” she said.

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“Americans deserve to know that their leaders are focused on addressing the problems that keep them up at night.”

“Democrats across the country are laser-focused on affordability — in our nation’s capital and in state capitals and communities across America,” Spanberger said Tuesday.

The pay raise could be moot if the Democrat-controlled House of Delegates does not amend its own budget proposal to include the provision.

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The House’s budget includes $137 million for expanded childcare access, a minimum wage increase to $13.75 in 2027 and $15 in 2029, and a $20 million appropriation for state employees’ and home health care workers’ collective bargaining, according to Washington’s ABC affiliate.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the governor, as well as the House and Senate minority leaders, for further comment.

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Virginia murder suspect in bus stop stabbing had lengthy criminal history, multiple dropped charges

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Virginia murder suspect in bus stop stabbing had lengthy criminal history, multiple dropped charges

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A Virginia murder suspect accused of fatally stabbing a woman at a bus stop earlier this week has a lengthy criminal history filled with multiple arrests, but was let back onto the streets nearly every time. 

Abdul Jalloh, 32, is charged with the Monday night killing of Stephanie Minter, 41, of Fredericksburg, at a bus stop shelter, the Fairfax County Police Department said. 

Minter was found by officers with stab wounds to her upper body and pronounced dead at the scene, police said. 

Abdul Jalloh, 32, is accused of killing Stephanie Minter, 41, at a Virginia bus stop.  (Fairfax County Police Department; provided)

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Jalloh, 32, who was seen on surveillance cameras exiting the bus with Minter at Richmond Highway and Arlington Drive, was arrested the next day. 

He was arrested at a liquor store after an employee called 911. At the time, officers arrested him for allegedly shoplifting. Investigators linked him to the murder a day later. 

Authorities were still trying to determine a motive for the killing and what led to the deadly stabbing. 

A search of online court records revealed Jalloh has more than a dozen arrests in northern Virginia, including on charges of petty larceny and malicious wounding. 

In most of the cases, prosecutors dropped the charges, FOX D.C. reported. 

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Abdul Jalloh seen on a bus in Virginia.  (Fairfax County Police Department)

Laura Birnbaum, the chief of staff for Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, said Jalloh was known to the district attorney’s office and was “acutely aware of the risk he posed to the community.”

“That is why we convicted the defendant of a 2023 malicious wounding charge, and have since made every effort to hold him accountable each subsequent time that he has come in contact with the criminal justice system, including asking him to be held in custody whenever possible,” Birnbaum said. 

“Unfortunately, the defendant in this case also had a history of selecting victims with no fixed address – some of the most vulnerable members of our community,” she added. “In multiple cases, we were unable to move forward with prosecution because victims could not be located or contacted.”

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Stephanie Minter, 41, was killed on Monday after getting off of a bus in Virginia.  (Provided)

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An obituary for Minter described her as a “happy, jolly” person. 

“A beam of light in dark places,” the obituary states. 

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