Police Brutality / Individual record
James Brown III
The Washington Post's Fatal Force database records James Brown III in a fatal on-duty police shooting on 2016-03-31 in Richmond, VA. Individual circumstances and legal outcome require case-specific review.
- Record ID
- PB-394
- Incident date
- March 31, 2016
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Richmond, VA
- Agency
- Virginia State Police
- Category
- Fatal on-duty police shooting
- Age (reported)
- 34
What happened
James Brown III was shot and killed by Virginia State Police at a Richmond Greyhound bus terminal on March 31, 2016, during a training operation and an interaction with troopers inside the station. Police said Brown drew a handgun and fired at Trooper Chad Dermyer, fatally wounding him. Other troopers returned fire, killing Brown. Authorities reported that two female bystanders were also wounded during the chaotic shooting. Federal and state investigators examined the confrontation and Brown's travel history, while witnesses described the gunfire and panic among passengers. The death of Dermyer and injuries to bystanders are indispensable context for Brown's inclusion in fatal police shooting records.
Investigation & findings
Individual legal and investigative outcome not yet reviewed.
Washington Post Fatal Force v2; 2015–2024
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- 1426
- Race code in source
- B
- Race source method
- not_available
- Gender (source)
- male
- Armed status (source)
- gun
- Flee status (source)
- not
- Agency IDs (source)
- 448
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Fatal Force v2 — fatal on-duty police shootings, 2015–2024The Washington Post · Dataset