Prosecutor: No charges to be filed in officer-involved shooting

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - A Charleston police officer acted in self-defense when he shot and killed a suspect earlier this month, according to the Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney.

The Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office released a letter Friday, Jan. 27, stating no criminal charges will be filed in relation to the incident on Jan. 11, 2023.

William E. Henry Jr., 43, of Charleston, was pronounced dead at the hospital, a CPD news release states.

Man dead after officer-involved shooting; name released

The incident happened just before 1 p.m. near the intersection of Spring and Bullitt streets near the Spring Street Bridge.

Police say Henry was armed with a pipe and refused to obey officers’ demands to drop the weapon. Officers said he fought through a taser deployment and struck an officer in the head with the pipe.

Medical assistance was administered at the scene to the suspect. The officer who suffered the head injury was treated at a local hospital and released.

Despite previously providing bodycam for an unrelated previous officer-involved shooting, WSAZ’s FOIA request regarding video of the Jan. 11 incident was denied the next day on Jan. 13 by the city attorney’s office citing West Virginia Code §29B-1-4(a)(4)(A) as an exemption.

According to the city attorney, “West Virginia Code §29B-1-4(a)(4)(A) explicitly exempts from disclosure records of law-enforcement agencies that deal with the detection and investigation of crime. The information you are requesting is part of a pending investigation and, therefore, is not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.”

On Friday, WSAZ was told body camera footage of the January 11, 2023 incident near the Spring Street Bridge could be viewed on Monday, Jan. 30.

Keep checking the WSAZ app for the latest information.

Copyright 2023 WSAZ. All rights reserved.