DATE: Sunday, November 9, 1997              TAG: 9711090053

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE AND TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITERS 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   79 lines

MAN IS SHOT, DIES AFTER POLICE CHASE PORTSMOUTH OFFICERS SAY MOTORIST HAD GUN THIS IS THE REGION'S THIRD SUCH KILLING BY POLICE THIS YEAR.

A gunman who was shot and critically injured by police late Friday after he led them on a half-hour pursuit through the city died Saturday evening.

Police spokeswoman Amber Whittaker identified the man as Michael William Boggs, 37, of Portsmouth. No street address was available for him.

The incident is the third this year in which police in South Hampton Roads have shot and killed a suspect. In each case, the person shot has refused orders to surrender and has either been armed or appeared to be reaching for a weapon.

Boggs was taken to the Trauma Center at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. He was initially listed in serious condition, but his status was changed to critical Saturday and he was pronounced dead at 6 p.m.

It remained unclear Saturday what prompted Boggs' actions, but Whittaker said Saturday that ``police are still investigating all circumstances surrounding last night's occurrences.''

The officers involved in the shooting were not identified, but they have been placed on administrative duties - a routine procedure - until an internal investigation is completed.

Whittaker gave this account of Friday night's events:

About 10:30 p.m., police dispatchers began receiving calls from residents of the Cradock section of the city, reporting that shots were being fired. Some of the callers said the shots were being fired by someone in a white van.

Police were sent to the area and an officer spotted the van. The driver did not stop, however, when the officer turned on the lights and siren of his police car.

As the officer pursued the van, other police cars joined the chase.

The driver led police through Cradock to George Washington Highway, through Parkview and the Elm Avenue area, along London Boulevard and onto westbound High Street. The chase went through Churchland, to Cedar Lane and along the Western Freeway, ending finally at 11:07 p.m. at the intersection of Chautauqua Avenue and Commerce Street.

Once the van stopped, the driver ``exited the vehicle armed with a gun and was shot,'' Whittaker said.

Other shootings this year by police in Hampton Roads:

Hampton, Oct. 20 - A man who allegedly led police on a car chase is shot by an officer after trying to flee.

Norfolk, Oct. 9 - Police trying to serve a search warrant shoot and wound a man after he confronts them with a gun.

Chesapeake, Aug. 22 - Officers confront Carlett Karim, 26, on the street. She is holding a bowling pin in one hand and a knife in the other. She cuts two officers before they shoot and wound her.

Virginia Beach, June 26 - A police officer responding to a domestic argument shoots at a man after he was ordered to drop a gun but instead ducked behind a parked car. The bullet misses the man but shatters a car window and sprays the man with glass. With that, the man surrenders.

Virginia Beach, June 15 - Three police officers confront 19-year-old Bryan E. Dugan after he had gone on an early morning rampage at his girlfriend's house.

When officers catch up with him, Dugan, armed with three steak knives, refuses to surrender. Officers try to disarm him, but he lunges at them, they say, and they fire, killing him.

Virginia Beach, March 25 - Bruce V. Quagliato, 28, is shot and killed by police after a slow pursuit on Independence Boulevard.

Police said they fired because they believed Quagliato was trying to run them over, having repeatedly rammed their cars, and he had refused to surrender. He also acted as if he were armed.

Earlier, Quagliato's car had collided with at least one police car on the Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base. Police later say Quagliato was suicidal.

Eight officers fired more than 60 shots; more than a dozen hit Quagliato. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

JOHN BELL

Portsmouth police investigate the scene where they shot Michael

William Boggs, 37, of Portsmouth, late Friday night.

Map KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH POLICE DEPARTMENT SHOOTING

PURSUIT

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