Police probing officer-involved shooting in Culpeper County

CULPEPER, Va. (AP) — Virginia State Police are investigating the shooting death of a Black man by a Culpeper County sheriff’s deputy.

The Culpepper Star-Exponent reports that Donald Francis Hairston, 44, was shot after police were called for a welfare check to his home in a rural neighborhood.

State police said that Hairston shot a gun and pointed it at deputies before he was fatally shot. State police told the newspaper on Friday that they had no new information to release. But they said the investigation is ongoing.

A local pastor said Hairston was a U.S. Army veteran who served honorably.

“I know he struggled with issues from his military service,” the Rev. Adrian Sledge told the newspaper on Friday.

Sledge said that police should have given more consideration to Hairston’s mental health and been able to recognize symptoms of PTSD and trauma in veterans.

“Please don’t forget to mention he served the Army and this country proudly and with dignity and honor,” Sledge said.