Richmond, Virginia



From the Richmond Times-Dispatch of October 14, 2004

Police: Shooting started as robbery



Police say they now believe that two men found shot in the Essex Village Apartments complex early Tuesday had attempted to rob another man at gunpoint.



But the attempted robbery victim pulled his own gun and wounded the men after a struggle, said Lt. Doug Perry, a Henrico County police spokesman.



The suspects were still hospitalized at VCU Medical Center last night and were listed in stable condition, Perry said.



Police said the man who wounded the pair is a 25-year-old Henrico resident. Police did not release his name. He was visiting his girlfriend, who lives in the apartment complex near Richmond International Raceway, when the suspects confronted him about 12:25 a.m., Perry said.



"We're going to consult with the commonwealth's attorney before we make a determination of whether it was self-defense," Perry said.



The wounded men, both in their 20s, were found together on the ground after police were called to investigate a reported shooting in the 300 block of Engleside Drive in Essex Village.



The attempted robbery victim was still at the scene when police arrived, and "presented himself as a victim of a robbery," Perry said.

No subsequent stories about this incident were found.