POWHATAN, Va. (WRIC) — A Powhatan man is dead after being shot by a sheriff’s deputy Monday night.
“It just upsets me when I think about, he was out cutting grass yesterday, and now, he’s gone,” said neighbor Eleanor Caviness.
It was around 9:30 Monday night when Virginia state police and deputies from the Powhatan Sheriff’s office responded to a call for a domestic situation off of Urbine road.
“As far as I could see to my right and left on both sides of the roads there were police cars,” said resident Teresa who declined to give her last name.
Teresa lives nearby and says it’s been nothing but quiet for the 15 years she’s lived here. She says she was in disbelief at the amount of police and sheriff’s cars she saw outside her home.
“It was a eerie, scary feeling,” said Teresa.
State police say when they got there they found 71-year-old Frank Short, armed with a rifle. Authorities say despite repeated commands by a Powhatan County deputy, Short refused to put down his firearm and was subsequently shot and killed by the sheriff’s deputy.
One of short’s daughters spoke with us. She says her father had one eye and hearing problems and wonders if he even heard or saw police. She says she is one of four children he had and says her father lived at this home with her sister saying,
“I don’t know what happened but I know it shouldn’t have happened. My dad shouldn’t have died like that.”
Short’s daughter says she’s learned that the gun he was holding didn’t have any bullets. She had this to say about her dad,
“He was the most wonderful man in the world. He’d give you the shirt off his back.”
“I’ve hardly been able to do anything this morning,” said Caviness.
Meanwhile some residents say Short was friendly, and are shocked he’s gone.
“He never bothered anybody. I’m so sorry for his family, that it had to happen like this, in his home,” said Caviness.
Virginia State Police have not said if his gun had any bullets or if he threatened officers. They are continuing to investigate and will hand over their findings to the Powhatan Commonwealth’s Attorney who will decide whether to press charges.
