Richmond police officers will not face charges in shooting of Kenneth Sharp

A Richmond Police patrol car. (Photo: William Berksteiner/8News)

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards announced during a Current crime briefing that no charges will be brought against the police officer responsible for shooting Kenneth Sharp on Easter Sunday.

Kenneth Sharp, a 20-year-old resident of Richmond, was shot by police after officers responded to reports of an armed person in the 1900 block of Cedar Street on March 31.

When officers arrived at the East End crime scene around 5 a.m., they found Sharp asleep in his vehicle.

According to the Richmond Police Department report, officers attempted to assault Sharp, who then got out of his car with a large firearm in his hand.

Although Sharp was ordered to drop the weapon, he failed to comply, resulting in one of the officers firing four shots, resulting in his death.

The entire confrontation reportedly lasted only three minutes.

Body camera footage Richmond police released a summary of the incident in April identifying Officer Todd Hall as the person who fired the fatal shots. Both Officer Hall and his colleague involved in the incident were subsequently placed on leave without pay pending further investigation into the shooting.

During the meeting, Police Chief Edwards stated that the Richmond District Attorney’s Office had decided not to pursue the case against Officer Hall, which led to the conclusion that no charges would be filed against him.

“We just received information from the Richmond District Attorney’s Office that they will not prosecute this case,” Edwards said.

Latoya Hardney, Sharp’s mother, had previously expressed her dismay at her son’s death and demanded that the Richmond Police Department be held accountable for her son’s death.

“No parent should ever have to go through this,” Hardney said. “I just want justice for him and justice for everyone else who is suffering and going through what I went through.”

Richmond police said they will conduct an internal investigation into the incident after the criminal investigation is complete.

This is a developing story. Stay with 8News for updates.