Chesterfield Police bodycam shows the fatal shooting of Charles Byers, who was armed with a hatchet

The body camera video was seen by an 8News reporter on April 10. At the time, Chesterfield Police said they were not going to release the video to the public. However, 8News was able to obtain the footage through court documents.

On July 8, 2023, Chesterfield Police received a call from a neighbor saying Byers had tried breaking into several homes on the 900 block of Marblethorpe Road in North Chesterfield while holding a hatchet.

Byers, who suffered from schizoaffective disorder, had just been released from HCA Chippenham Hospital in Richmond after being admitted for a mental health crisis.

With weapons drawn, two officers asked Byers to put the hatchet down, but he did not comply. Byers then started walking backward in the middle of the road.

After refusing commands from the officers to put the hatchet down, one of the officers fired their stun gun at Byers, but it was ineffective. After two more commands to Byers to put the weapon down, he is heard in the video saying “come and get it.”

The other officer then fired shots at Byers, hitting him five times initially and two more times as he tried running away. Byers eventually dropped the hatchet, fell to the ground, and died at the scene.

The department later said shooting Byers was warranted given several factors, including the safety of the public and the officers involved. Paul Curley, the Byers family’s attorney who has also seen the video, isn’t buying it.

“They all failed Charles,” Curley said. “It’s a systemic failure. It’s that failure that the parents are very, very interested in addressing. More than anything else, the parents want some change that results in this not happening to someone else in the future.”

Byers’ family has filed a $35 million lawsuit against HCA and the City of Richmond, alleging he was released from the hospital and later the Richmond City Justice Center unlawfully, having been placed under a temporary detention order.