UPDATE: Va. State Police superintendent: Trooper dies after being shot at bus station

A Virginia state trooper was fatally shot and his attacker killed by officers who returned fire Thursday afternoon at Richmond’s Greyhound bus station, where the state police were conducting a training exercise, the agency’s top officer said. Two women, one a track athlete from Binghamton (N.Y.) University headed to the College of William and Mary for a meet, suffered injuries that were described as not life-threatening. Virginia State Police Superintendent W. Steven Flaherty told reporters at an evening briefing that trooper Chad P. Dermyer, 37, died from his wounds after being taken to VCU Medical Center following the 2:40 p.m. attack. Police had earlier announced that the gunman also died at the hospital. Dermyer, a Marine Corps veteran and native of Jackson, Mich., graduated from the state police academy in 2014 and had been transferred to a counter-terrorism and criminal interdiction unit after serving on patrol in the Newport News and Hampton areas. A former Jackson and Newport News police officer, Dermyer was married with two children. “This has been a tough evening, a tough afternoon,” Flaherty said. “It’s quite a tragedy.” Dermyer was in a criminal interdiction training exercise at the bus station with about a dozen other officers who had recently completed classroom instruction when he approached the man and was shot multiple times, Flaherty said. Dermyer and the gunman had been talking only moments before the man drew a firearm, Flaherty said. After shooting Dermyer, the gunman continued firing and moved toward the restaurant area of the bus terminal before officers were able to take him into custody. “Why he reacted, why he had a gun in his waistband, we don’t know,” Flaherty said. The shooter had a history of criminal charges but Flaherty said authorities had not yet determined how many resulted in convictions. He was not immediately identified, pending notification of family. His body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office. Flaherty said it was too early in the investigation to say who fired the shots that injured the two women. The attacker’s gun was recovered at the scene. Dermyer was not wearing a protective vest, Flaherty said. The equipment is optional in this case, Flaherty said, and indicated Dermyer may have chosen to not wear one because it was a training exercise. What started as a training mission turned into a massive police presence that drew officers from the city of Richmond, Henrico County, state police, FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals Service. Traffic backed up on the Boulevard, a main gateway into the city via the nearby Interstate 95 interchange. At VCU Medical Center, meantime, state police and other law enforcement officials arrived through the afternoon, and no one was allowed in the area other than hospital workers. Four ambulances arrived at the hospital in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said the department was taking the lead role in the investigation. Flaherty praised the immediate and continuing work of Richmond police and the other agencies. A canine team swept the bus station and interviews began immediately with witnesses. A shaken Richmond City Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell, chairwoman of the council’s public safety committee, talked with reporters near the bus station and said the “senseless act” was “one of the saddest days I’ve ever seen in the city of Richmond.” Mayor Dwight C. Jones was fully briefed on the shooting, said Tammy D. Hawley, the mayor’s press secretary, and was in constant contact with Police Chief Alfred Durham. Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s office said the governor was also in contact and “offered whatever state resources may be necessary to respond to this situation.” McAuliffe described the shooting as “a loss that impacts us all. It should inspire prayers for the family, friends and fellow troopers who are mourning tonight, and gratitude for those who protect and serve.” Across the busy bus station and commercial area, workers, travelers and others recounted what they heard and saw as the violence broke out. Two workers landscaping at The Diamond — where the practicing Virginia Commonwealth University baseball team was taken off the field as a precaution — said they saw a man running across the street from the bus station and screaming something. Next a state police trooper pulled up to the scene and then “chaos” erupted as people started streaming out of the Greyhound building. Reshad Williams, 24, of Washington said he was leaning against a wall outside the bus station when he heard two shots and then almost immediately saw about 10 people run out of the station. He said he sprinted from the area and heard more shots as a growing number of people ran from the terminal in panic. Williams estimated that from the time he heard the first gunshots, police were on the scene within a minute. Craig Kostiuk, 41, of Chesterfield County said he was across the street when he saw about 20 police officers swarm the scene — some quickly getting out of the cars with guns drawn. He said an estimated 20 officers then quickly formed a single-file line and went into the main entrance of the building. About two minutes later, Kostiuk said, he saw at least two or three people being taken out of the building on stretchers. Brendan Hamilton, 28, who is visiting Richmond from Baltimore, said he was about to walk into the bus station about 2:50 p.m. when he heard two loud bangs and then started seeing flashes of light along with about five to 10 more banging noises. People began running out of nearly all of the doors of the building, Hamilton said. At this point it became clear to him that shots were being fired, and he sprinted from the scene. The emergency extended across the street to The Diamond, said Todd “Parney” Parnell, vice president and general manager of the Richmond Flying Squirrels. As soon as officials learned what was going on at the bus station, he said, everyone was pulled inside, including the VCU baseball team that was practicing at the stadium that is also its home field. Pete Woody, public relations and communications manager at neighboring Sports Backers Stadium, said that facility locked its doors and advised anyone with business there to stay away from the area. Greyhound staffs the station with security personnel, but “they were not on duty at the time the incident occurred,” said Lanesha Gipson, a national Greyhound spokeswoman. Gipson said no employees were injured during the incident. “We are fully cooperating with authorities and providing any information they may need, including video surveillance that was captured,” she said. Greyhound suspended service at the station indefinitely, rerouted inbound buses to the company’s Richmond garage, and offered counseling to employees as well as customers who were at the station at the time of the shootings. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulates Greyhound, as it does with all bus operators, but only in regard to the operation and maintenance of the buses, as well as the certification of drivers and oversight of their hours, said spokesman Duane DeBruyne. There are no regulations directly regarding security at the bus stations, he said. Gipson said Greyhound employs security measures at its terminals that include random baggage searches and wanding of travelers “to ensure customers don’t attempt to bring any items that are not permitted onboard.” “Security guards and employees always have heightened sensitivity to suspicious behaviors and activity, and will notify local authorities if suspicious behavior or unaccompanied packages are observed,” she said. Greyhound said it enforces a zero-tolerance policy on “unruly or aggressive customers” and prohibited items such as firearms and other weapons, drugs, and alcohol. “When prohibited items or unruly customers are observed, security will remove the customer from the property,” Gipson said. “If need be, they will contact local authorities for assistance.” At the evening news conference, Flaherty noted that earlier in the afternoon he had been at a meeting of an international police association and participating in a ceremony to honor officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. Trammell, the city councilwoman, noted with sadness that the attack occurred on the Boulevard, a street with many attractions and one on which the city has pinned many hopes for continued revitalization. “Where does this take us now?” she asked. Trammell said she spoke with officers at the scene. “For us to lose a state trooper, what about their families, their friends?” Trammell said. “I would never believe this.”