Jiansheng Chen, a 60-year-old grandfather, was shot dead by a security guard in Chesapeake, Virginia on January 26, 2017. Chen was playing the augmented reality mobile game Pokémon Go in a minivan parked by the community clubhouse when the security guard, Johnathan Cromwell, shot him at least five times. He was a Chinese immigrant and spoke little English.
On February 16, 2017, Cromwell was charged with second-degree murder.
Video Shooting of Jiansheng Chen
Aftermath
According to a notice given to the residents by River Walk community, the contract for the patrol services is for unarmed patrols.
On February 6, 2017, Andrew Sacks, an attorney representing Citywide Protection Services, which employed the security guard who shot Chen, held a news conference. According to Sacks, Chen repeatedly attempted to hit the guard with his van; in response, the guard fired "in reasonable fear for his life and safety". More than 60 people protested in support of Chen outside Sacks' office in downtown Norfolk during the news conference.
According to Greg Sandler, an attorney representing Chen's family, Chen was playing Pokémon Go at the time when he was shot. Police said the guard fired through more than one of the van's windows. The guard, while standing in front of the van, fired between five and ten shots through the windshield. Per Billy Rudolph, a spokesman of River Walk Community Association, there were no surveillance cameras pointing in the direction that recorded the encounter.
On February 14, 2017, 3 U.S. Representatives Donald McEachin (VA-04), Bobby Scott (VA-03) and Grace Meng (NY-06) issued a joint statement concerning the death of Jiansheng Chen. They said they "must know how a game of Pokemon Go turned into a fatal shooting."
Maps Shooting of Jiansheng Chen
Legal proceedings
On February 16, 2017, based on a news release from the Commonwealth's Attorney Nancy Parr, Johnathan Cromwell, the 21-year-old security guard of Virginia Beach was charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm. The news release also said Chen's van turned into the parking area of the River Walk clubhouse on January 26, 2017 around 11:00pm. Then "Mr. Cromwell confronted Mr. Chen by stopping his vehicle directly in front of Mr. Chen's. Mr. Chen backed up and turned his vehicle around to the point that it was at the entrance of the driveway facing River Walk Parkway when he was shot. Mr. Cromwell had exited his car and did say "Stop" before he fired his weapon." "Mr. Chen has gunshot entry wounds to his upper body area. The gunshot entry wounds are one in his upper left arm and four in his upper left chest".
Cromwell turned himself in the evening of February 16. At a bond hearing on February 27, Cromwell was denied bond by Judge Stephen Telfeyan.
The second-degree murder charge was upgraded to first-degree murder in July.
Following the attorney switch, a judge granted Cromwell a six-month continuance from his original trial date of Sept. 26, WAVY reported.
Sacks said the trial is now expected to begin on March 8, 2018, and last five days.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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