Police shot and killed a man in Mercer County on Saturday, according to the county's prosecutor.
Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ash said that Dennis Stanley was killed while standing in the middle of W.Va. 71 in Montcalm on Saturday afternoon.
MetroNews and WVVA report that police saw the man removing what they later learned was a replica gun from his pants.
Ash would not confirm that, or talk about any of the events preceding the shooting, saying he wanted to wait until he had a written report in hand.
"I don't have anything in hand except texts and phone calls," he said.
Ash said that three deputies responded. State troopers responded as well but did not arrive until after the shooting.
Ash said he believed video from at least one body camera is being reviewed. He said police are also reviewing cruiser cameras and 911 recordings.
He said that Deputy Adam Ballard was involved, as well as a Deputy Lacy and another deputy whose name he couldn't remember. He didn't know if all three deputies fired shots.
Ash, who said he wasn't familiar with Stanley, looked up the man's criminal history Monday morning and found minor charges from several years ago.
Sgt. Mark Haines, the trooper who investigating the shooting, was out of the office Monday. A woman who answered the phone at the sheriff's office, who identified herself as a dispatcher, said the sheriff was not available, and the chief deputy did not return messages.
Lt. Michael Baylous, spokesman for the State Police, did not return a phone call. Lawrence Messina, spokesman for the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, did not have information immediately available.
The incident was the third police shooting in West Virginia in two weeks. On Aug. 27, 82-year-old Darrel Hetrick, of Price Hill Road in Monongalia County, was shot and killed by Monongalia County sheriff's deputies after police said he threatened to shoot him. They had arrived to serve a warrant at his home at about 12:30 a.m.
Bernard Cottrell, 65, of Reedy was killed on Sept. 6 after police said he pointed a gun at officers.
Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.