The officer was identified Saturday as Stanley Cornell Reaves, 33, of the 100 block of Driftwood Drive, Chesapeake. He leaves behind a wife and two children, ages 2 and 5.

Reaves previously served with the Baltimore Police Department, which hired him in May 1993, until he relocated to Norfolk in September 2004. He graduated Norfolk’s police academy in March, and hit the streets in the city’s first precinct.

Around 4 p.m. Friday, Reaves had just left a call regarding a robbery, believed to be unrelated, and which other officers ultimately handled. He was flagged down by a person on 26th Street in Park Place, according to Officer Chris Amos,a police spokesman. The person told him that somebody was behaving “crazy” or “susicious,” Amos said.

Reaves, who was riding alone, pulled around the corner onto DeBree Avenue near 27th Street. He spotted the person, and got out of his cruiser. He approached the man and a parked van on foot.

“Without any warning, the suspect produces a gun and just shoots the officer,” Amos said. It was not known if the officer and the shooter even spoke, he said.

The suspect fled. Reaves was tended by other police, then city paramedics who brought him to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Amos could not provide details of what had prompted the concern of the person who waved the officer down.

Amos discounted an earlier statement from an animal control official that said police had been called to the area to assist in an investigation regarding a shot dog, saying he could find no record of such a call.

Police released a composite sketch of the suspect. He was described as black with a medium complexion, in his mid 20s, around 6 feet to 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 200 to 240 pounds pounds. He wore jeans and a green jacket. He left the scene in a late model SUV, which was possibly a Jeep Cherokee, police said Saturday. Previous descriptions they gave said the vehicle was green, had tinted windows, and that its license plate could end with the numerals “7775.”

Michael McKenna, president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 412, urged anyone with information to come forward. “If someone will kill a policeman, they’ll kill anyone,” he said.

A fund was being set up to assist Reaves’ family.

Reaves is the third city officer to be fatally shot in recent years. Several others have been wounded in gun battles.

“All of our hearts bleed when something like this happens,” said Harry Twiford, the president of the Commodore Lodge No. 3 of the Fraternal Order of Police. “It’s a senseless tragedy.”

While officers don’t brood about the dangers of the job, they are aware, he said. “In the back of their minds, it’s there. Every time an officer straps a gun on and goes to work, the possibility is there,” he said.

A large-scale effort that started Friday evening has not slowed down, and police continue to investigate addresses associated with Porter and tips about his location.

The FBI filed an arrest warrant charging him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution – an indication that authorities are considering he may have fled the state. Still, leads continue to come in locally, city police said.

Porter, who turns 30 today, and whose last known address was the 200 block of Beechwood Ave. in Norfolk’s Glenwood Park section, has been charged with the shooting of Officer Stanley Cornell Reaves, 33, of Chesapeake.

Porter has a lengthy criminal record dating to his teenage years, peppered with charges related to assaults, weapons, a robbery and drugs. He was wanted in Portsmouth at the time of the shooting for failing to appear in an assault case.

Now he’s facing the capital murder charge, which stems from the shooting about 4 p.m. Friday in Norfolk’s Park Place section. A person flagged down Reaves and told him that a man was behaving irrationally in the 2700 block of DeBree Ave. Reaves, who was patrolling alone, pulled over and approached the man on foot.

Reaves was an experienced officer who had cut his teeth on the streets of Baltimore, working for that city’s department from 1993 until he moved here in 2004. He had graduated from Norfolk’s police academy in March.

As Reaves attempted to speak to the man, the man shot him in the head. He was pronounced dead a short while later at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

He was married with two children, ages 1 and 5.

Observances for Reaves begin today with a viewing for family and friends at Rosewood Kellum Funeral Home, 601 N. Witchduck Road, Virginia Beach. It starts at 10 a.m. and runs throughout the day. At 6 p.m., there will be a candlelight vigil there and the viewing will be opened to the public until 9 p.m.

Reaves’ funeral is at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Calvary Revival Church, 5833 Poplar Hall Drive, in Norfolk.

More details about Porter were available Monday in court documents from Portsmouth and Norfolk.

Court records describe a man who carried guns and assaulted people. He was caught with a bag of nine heroin packets once and told officers he was a drug user.

Court records show offenses going back to July 1989, when Porter was just 13.

A document in a criminal case he faced as an adult included a summary of his juvenile record, opening the door to records typically not available. He was in juvenile court repeatedly , on offenses including assault, grand larceny, reckless driving and fleeing police. Some were dismissed; others resulted in commitments to the state youth and family services department , the records show.

As an adult, he spent time behind bars.

In November 1994, he flashed a .357-caliber handgun at a teenager in Norfolk and took the youth’s leather jacket and jewelry, court records say. He was 19 at the time and received a three-year sentence for a weapons charge, court records say. A five-year term for robbery was suspended.

In 1997, he was in trouble again, when he was convicted of possession of heroin, possession of a firearm with drugs, and possession of a firearm by a felon. He was sentenced to 15 years, with 13 years suspended. His previously suspended five-year robbery sentence was imposed, too.

On those charges, as well as a misdemeanor assault, he was imprisoned until October 2003, according to the state Department of Corrections. He was on parole until a month ago.

Most recently, Porter had been convicted Aug. 5 in Portsmouth General District Court of assault and battery and obstructing justice, but he appealed the cases.

Those charges stemmed from an incident July 8 on Pepperwood Court, according to court records. Police were called to the area that night for a reported assault. When Porter saw an officer coming, he walked away quickly, then hid in a wooded area. The officer eventually found him there, the records say.

A woman told police he had threatened to beat up her son. She went to speak with him. He ordered her off the property and then hit her on her shoulder and the right side of her head with an open hand, a summary of the allegations says.

Porter did not appear in court Sept. 2 when his appeals were to be heard, leading to him being wanted in Portsmouth at the time of the shooting.

Staff writers Michelle Washington, John-Henry Doucette and Tim McGlone contributed to this report.

Reach Matthew Roy at (757) 446-2540 or matthew.roy@pilotonline.com.

 

Medallions preserve slain Norfolk officer's memory   Norfolk Officer Stanley Cornell Reaves   By MICHAEL MCNARNEY, CORRESPONDENT, The Virginian-Pilot © February 25, 2006 Long after the news of Stanley C. Reaves' death fades from the headlines, hundreds of colorful commemorative medallions bearing the slain Norfolk police officer's name will help his memory live on. The coins sell for $20 each, with $15 of each sale going to Reaves' widow, Treva Rose Reaves, and two young children, Reagan and Ryan. "It's a lasting reminder of what he sacrificed," Norfolk police dispatcher Sandy Smith said. "People forget." Smith, 41, of Virginia Beach, and her husband, Norfolk police officer Ray Smith, 52 - who worked in the same platoon as Reaves - are leading the effort and have sold about 400 so far. WANT TO BUY ONE? To buy a coin, contact Sandy or Ray Smith at (757) 233-9574 or the manufacturer at (877) 526-4648 or online at http://challengecoinusa.com. Latest Videos Elvis Fanatics Celebrate the King of Rock n' Roll's Birthday Titan Duals: Championship Round: Oscar Smith vs. Granby Ernest Hemingway's Former Home Open to Public Police Investigate Death of USC Kicker Countdown to the Big Game Archbishop Gives Up Seat Police: Kicker Death Likely Accident or Suicide See the complete Pilot, exactly as in print - View stories, photos and ads - E-mail clippings - Print copies Log in or learn more   The coins are similar to a silver dollar in size and heft, but are slick-surfaced and in color. The idea came from Jay Javey, a retired Virginia Beach police officer who had a similar coin made for Rodney Pocceschi, a Virginia Beach officer killed in the line of duty in 2003. Javey has since retired to Arizona and is making the coins not just for fellow officers but also for soldiers and others involved in the military. Sales of the Pocceschi coin raised $22,000 for the dead officer's family, Javey said. "It turned out to be a real good fundraising tool for sad occasions like this, unfortunately," Javey said. "People don't hesitate to donate money to the family of an officer or a solider, and now they are getting a coin to hold." Thomas A. Porter, accused of shooting Reaves to death on Oct. 28, is in jail awaiting capital murder charges. The officer was killed while investigating a complaint about an armed man on DeBree Avenue in the Park Place neighborhood. Sandy Smith said that working as a dispatcher brings a unique closeness to officers, some of whom they never may meet. And working when an officer is in trouble makes an already-tense job worse. "There's a whole different mood in the room," Smith said. "It's like one of our family members dying." Smith has been spending her off hours delivering Reaves memorial coins to buyers, including many Norfolk businesses the officer frequented. She and her husband also have one of the Reaves coins at home, along with a Pocceschi coin. "When I'm gone, my grandchildren may find that in my possessions," Smith said. "It's something - it's tangible, it's in their hand, they can remember."   Reach Michael McNarney at mike@mcnarney.com.     This story originally ran in the Norfolk Compass on Feb. 23. Check the Community Channel each day for occasional stories from the Suffolk Sun, Norfolk Compass, Virginia Beach Beacon, Chesapeake Clipper and Portsmouth Currents. Please click here to send us questions, suggestions or comments about stories featured on the Community Channel.