Va. firefighter shot and killed on Thanksgiving
Richmond Fire Lt. Ashley Nicole Berry, 33, was shot late Thursday night and pronounced dead at the hospital
Progress-Index Staff
The Progress-Index, Petersburg, Va.
HOPEWELL, Va. — Police are investigating the shooting death of a Richmond firefighter late Thanksgiving night in central Hopewell.
Officers responding to the 1000 block of Sunnyside Avenue around 11:40 p.m. found 33-year-old Ashley Nicole Berry, of Chesterfield, seriously wounded after being shot, said Hopewell Police Lt. Michael Langford. Langford said Berry was rushed to John Randolph Medical Center and then VCU Medical Center in Richmond, where she was pronounced dead.
Langford said police are looking for either a silver or gold sports-utility vehicle that, according to witnesses, left the place where Berry was found "at a high rate of speed after the shooting." The scene is close to Sunnyside Avenue's intersection with Oaklawn Boulevard and Winston Churchill Drive.
Berry was a lieutenant in the Richmond Fire Department recently assigned to the Fire Marshal's office, Richmond Fire Department spokesman Lt. Christopher Armstrong confirmed Friday afternoon.
"Lt. Berry was a valued member of our Fire Department family and the community as she served proudly since January 29, 2011," Armstrong wrote on the RFD Facebook site. "Please keep Lt. Berry's family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. She will be missed but never forgotten."
Berry is survived by three children.
This was Hopewell's fifth homicide of 2019.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Hopewell Detective Mark Polumbo at (804) 541-2284 or Hopewell-Prince George Crime Solvers at (804) 541-2202. Information may also be shared through the P3Tips app on a mobile phone.
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©2019 The Progress-Index, Petersburg, Va.
