Aurora Man Who Fatally Shot Trooper Had 143 Rounds of Ammo on Him

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RICHMOND, VA -- An Aurora man with a hatred for police shot a Virginia trooper to death at a bus station and then went down in a flurry of police bullets.

Virginia State Police have identified the gunman in Thursday's fatal shooting as James Brown III, 34, a prior resident of the 600 block of N. May St. in Aurora.

Brown was talking with Trooper Chad P. Dermyer when he suddenly pulled out a gun and shot the trooper several times in Richmond's Greyhound bus station. Two police officers nearby shot Brown in an exchange of gunfire but only after bullets struck two women.

Both the trooper and the gunman died at VCU Medical Center. The injuries to the women were not believed to be life-threatening.

The gun used by Brown was purchased legally 13 months ago by someone else, but police don't know how Brown got the gun, said Col. W. Steven Flaherty, superintendent of the Virginia State Police, in a Friday afternoon news conference. Police are working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to trace the gun.

What was the motive? "We don't know, at this point," Flaherty said. He described how Dermyer, in uniform, walked into the terminal and Brown got up from where he was sitting in the restaurant and headed toward his bags sitting near the entrance. Video surveillance shows Brown reaching toward his bags and then turning to Dermyer, Flaherty said.

Brown may have been worried his gun was going to be discovered, Flaherty said. After a brief exchange of words, Brown opened fire "inches from his [Dermyer's] chest," he said.

The gun was a 40-caliber semiautomatic Beretta, Flaherty said. Brown had 143 rounds of unspent ammunition with two 30-round clips partially loaded.

Dermyer was not wearing a safety vest. "Whether the vest would have saved his life or not, I don't know," Flaherty said.

Aurora Police on Friday were in contact with Virginia investigators, but could not comment on his past criminal history as it "must be obtained through the respective circuit clerks offices."

According to news reports, Brown has a lengthy criminal history in Illinois, and his aunt told a CBS station her nephew "wanted to be infamous."

He "had a lot of anger about the police in the past," the shooter's aunt, Edith Brown, told Richmond TV station WTVR. "He pretty much thought he wanted to be infamous . . . in terms of having a showdown. He always praised those people who got into shootouts with police."

• FULL STORY: Virginia Trooper Shooting: No Motive For Killing In Richmond Greyhound Station

Brown has been charged in the past with murder, intent to kill, aggravated battery with a firearm, failure to obey police, resisting a corrections officer, aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, aggravated battery of an unborn child, numerous drug charges, intimidation, domestic battery, felony possession of a weapon, among many driving charges, WTVR reports.

Some of those charges stem from arrests made in Aurora.

In 2001, Brown was charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated discharge of a firearm for allegedly shooting at a vehicle near his home in the 600 block of North May Street in Aurora during an afternoon in March, the Aurora Beacon-News reports. A 19-year-old Aurora man was injured in the shooting.

In August 2006, Brown and his cousin, Jeremy S. Brown, were arrested during a joint parole investigation by Aurora police and the Illinois Department of Corrections, according to the Aurora Beacon-News. Police found a loaded handgun, marijuana and cocaine in their home on North May Street during the compliance check.

Virginia State Police are leading the investigation into the motive of the gunman, searching through bags he was carrying at the terminal and trying to figure out why he was in Richmond.

Meanwhile, Dermyer, a native of Jackson, MI, the father of two and a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, is being mourned after the tragedy. Dermyer is survived by wife, Michelle, and two children.

Mary Ann Burton and Amie Schaenzer contributed to this article.