On the evening of April 23, 2011, 26-year-old Kirill Ivanovich Denyakin, a native of Karaganda, Kazakhstan living in Portsmouth, Virginia on an expired temporary visa, was shot and killed after a disturbance at his apartment building. Portsmouth Police Officer Stephen Rankin responded; police said Denyakin was intoxicated, ignored verbal commands, made a hand movement and lunged at the officer, prompting Rankin to open fire. An autopsy recorded 11 gunshot wounds to Denyakin’s chest, shoulder, arm, thigh, hip, wrist and hand, and a blood alcohol content of 0.28%. Witnesses and family disputed the account, saying Denyakin was highly inebriated, may have been banging to get into the building, and that he tripped rather than charged; friends suggested nonlethal force could have been used.

The Virginia State Police investigated and a grand jury in February 2012 declined to indict Officer Rankin on criminal charges. The Justice Department reviewed the case. Denyakin’s family filed a $22 million civil suit alleging excessive force and related claims; a civil jury in March 2012 found Rankin not culpable. Did anyone who knew Kirill or who witnessed that night see details that might clarify what happened?