By Jane Harper
The Virginian-Pilot
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Cameron Girvin and Chris Reese were among the young ones on the city’s police force.
Girvin, 25, was sworn into its ranks about five years ago. Reese, 30, joined in 2022, after having served three years as a deputy sheriff.
Both officers’ lives came to swift and tragic ends Saturday after a driver they’d pulled over late Friday night for having expired plates gunned them down in a townhouse parking lot in the city’s Green Run area. The 42-year-old man, John Lee McCoy III, was later found dead from what police believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Both Girvin and Reese were married, said Jake Jacocks , president of the Virginia Beach Police Foundation and a former police chief for the city.
Reese and his wife didn’t have any children, and Girvin and his wife were expecting their first child in a few months, Jacocks said. According to a GoFundMe page set up for Girvin’s family, the couple were high school sweethearts, and due to have a daughter this summer. They planned to name her Paisley.
Girvin’s wife works as a dispatcher for the city, Jacocks said. “Fortunately she was not working when this happened,” he said.
Reese was described as a loyal friend and devoted husband with a passion for law enforcement on a GoFundMe page created for his family.
The Virginia Beach Police Foundation also is collecting donations for the families through its website at vbpolicefoundation.org, Jacocks said.
“Every penny that comes through the foundation will go directly to the officers’ families,” he said.
Jacocks said he’s already delivered a check to Reese’s wife, and hopes to get one to Girvin’s soon, to help with immediate expenses. The families also will be entitled to “pretty robust” life insurance proceeds, workman’s comp, and other benefits from state and local sources, Jacocks said.
“None of that happens right away, but expenses happen right away, and that’s why we like to get a check to them as soon as possible,” he said.
Tens of thousands of dollars already have been contributed through the GoFundMe pages and the foundation. Multiple businesses also are planning fundraisers, and Towne Bank has pledged $50,000, Jacocks said.
In addition to financial help, the foundation and Virginia Beach Police Department will be providing any kind of support the families need, the former chief said. Each family has been assigned a police detail to help them navigate the process, he said.
A video posted to social media Sunday showed dozens of police vehicles and motorcycles escorting the officers’ bodies from the Tidwater medical examiner’s office to the funeral homes that will be handling their services.
At a news conference Saturday, Police Chief Paul Neudigate described Girvin and Reese as heroes. Both had “stellar reputations” within the department, he said, and were “beyond reproach.”
A memorial set up outside the Fourth Precinct, where Girvin and Reese were assigned, has been growing since it was created Saturday, with mourners stopping by to leave flowers and other mementos.
“We may seem stoic on the outside, but I can tell you our hearts are breaking on the inside,” Neudigate said.
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Jane Harper , jane.harper@pilotonline.com
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