CHARLESTON, W.Va. — One man is dead on Charleston’s west side after being shot by officers responding to a domestic dispute.
Andrew Moore, 25, was shot and killed after officers ordered him to drop his weapon as he was holding a knife to his pregnant fiancée’s throat.
“Officers repeatedly ordered him to drop the knife,” Charleston Police Chief Steve Cooper said. “He told the officers he was going to cut her, kill her and they had better shoot him. They begged him to drop the weapon. He would not. The victim was in imminent danger of her life so officers opened fire and ended the threat to the victim, and her unborn child.”
The incident occurred at an apartment on Griffin Drive at Orchard Manor. According to Cooper, the complainant called Metro-911 and said that Moore threatened to take their other child, a toddler, into the woods to kill the baby.
“This is a worst case scenario for a domestic violence incident,” Cooper said. “When officers arrived, a suspect is actually threatening to kill the victim and actually has a large knife to her throat. The officers acted very swiftly, very wisely and very heroically and saved the life of the victim, her unborn child and the baby.”
Per policy with the police department, the officers involved will now be put on paid administrative leave.
“They will be referred to counseling, as well, for their own mental well-being,” Cooper said. “A situation like this is very traumatic. To have to use deadly force and to actually be in a situation where it’s clear an innocent victim may be getting ready to die right in front of you.”
Cooper also added that this was not the first domestic incident between the two.
“If anyone is in a domestic violence situation where there were repeated incidents,” he said. “In this case there has been a history of domestic violence and this victim has been victimized on numerous occasions. If you’re in a situation like this, please reach out to us or someone else and get yourself somewhere safe. These situations can turn very deadly for the victim, for the women and children, and again we are very thankful that the victim, her unborn child and her baby are all OK.”