Police: Culpeper man dead after shooting at deputies during chase

CULPEPER, Va. (AP) — A man accused of shooting at sheriff’s deputies and other cars during a chase in Virginia died after his vehicle crashed into an embankment, police said.

Jeremy Yates, 21, of Culpeper, died at the scene of Friday night’s crash on a road in Rappahannock County near the Culpeper County line, according to a Virginia State Police news release.

Nobody else was injured in the incident.

Yates’ body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Manassas for an autopsy.

Investigators recovered two handguns from Yates’ 2018 Chevrolet Colorado after the crash, police said.

The State Police is investigating the shooting and chase. The pursuit started after the Culpeper Police Department advised other law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for Yates and warned that he may be armed with a gun.

Yates fled after deputies from the Madison County Sheriff’s Office approached his vehicle around 9 p.m. He fired at passing vehicles and at sheriff’s deputies during the chase, which ended when Yates’ vehicle veered off a road and overturned, the news release says.

Yates shot at Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office deputies who were stopped in a roadway, and they returned fire before the crash, police said.

No other drivers have reported damage to a car from the shooting, police said.

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