Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly
APPALACHIA (AP) No criminal charges will be filed against a Southwest Virginia sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot a 16-year-old, who stabbed him during a confrontation in July, a prosecutor announced on Sept. 14.
An investigation found that the deputy acted in justifiable self-defense when he shot the teen on July 17 near the community of Appalachia during a search for two missing teens, Wise County Commonwealth’s Attorney Chuck Slemp said in a report.
A 16-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl had been reported missing and were last seen in an SUV missing from his home, the report states. The SUV was spotted and a caller reported that it looked like a female was harmed, the report states.
Wise County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Robinson found the SUV and as he handcuffed the 16-year-old boy, the teen attacked him with a knife, the report states. The teen stabbed the deputy repeatedly as they struggled and fell to the ground.
“I was bleeding bad, and blood was gushing,” he said in a written statement. “At that point I pulled my gun and shot it.”
Robinson was flown to a hospital in critical condition. The teen was pronounced dead on the scene and the 13-year-old girl was found uninjured in the SUV, the report states.
