SWAT standoff near Carytown leaves man dead

Richmond police said a man was found dead early Wednesday, Aug. 5, on Parkwood Avenue near Carytown, and a woman was taken into custody after a SWAT team entered a nearby home. Officers were called at about 5:31 a.m. to the 3400 block of Parkwood Avenue for a report of a person down, according to police and local news reports. Police said the man was outside a structure, unresponsive, and appeared to have suffered trauma. The death investigation closed several blocks for hours and drew a large police response in the neighborhood. ### Where did police find the man? The 3400 block of Parkwood Avenue, near Freeman Road in Richmond’s Carytown area, was the scene police secured Wednesday morning. Richmond police said responding officers found an adult man down and unresponsive along Parkwood Avenue and pronounced him dead at the scene. WTVR and WRIC reported police then determined that a person of interest in the death investigation might be inside a nearby residence. (wric.com) Officers secured the immediate area and asked the public to avoid the block while investigators and SWAT responded. ### Why did SWAT go into the house? Richmond police said the SWAT team was called to try to contact the person inside safely. (wric.com) After several attempts to make contact, officers obtained and executed a search warrant, WRIC reported, citing police. Three “light, sound diversion devices” were deployed when officers entered, police said. “These can sound like gunfire — but no shots were fired,” officials said in a release quoted by WRIC. (wtvr.com) ### Who was taken into custody? An unarmed woman was found inside the home and taken into custody, according to Richmond police. Police said the woman and the dead man knew each other. As of Wednesday afternoon, no charges had been announced in the case, according to WTVR and WRIC. (wric.com) Chief Rick Edwards said during a Wednesday press conference that the incident posed no threat to the community, WRIC reported. (wric.com) Police did not publicly identify the man or the woman in the initial updates. ### What did neighbors hear and see? Several blocks of Parkwood Avenue and the intersection with Freeman Avenue were closed for several hours during the investigation, WRIC reported. (wric.com) West Cary Street remained open, according to a report published by FOX Richmond that cited WWBT. Kevonte Demery, general manager at StretchLab nearby, told WRIC he arrived around 8 a.m. and heard a series of popping noises he believed were flashbangs. “This is a first,” Demery said. (wric.com) ### What has police confirmed, and what is still unknown? Richmond police have confirmed the time of the initial call, the location, the man’s death, the SWAT entry and the woman’s custody status. (wric.com) Police have not publicly said what trauma the man suffered, whether the woman will face charges, or what led officers to identify the residence as connected to the case. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the man’s cause and manner of death, police said. (wric.com) Richmond detectives asked anyone with information to contact Major Crimes Detective B. Plaskett at 804-646-3431 or Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000, according to WRIC.