Off-Duty Danville Officer Arrested After Shots Fired Into Sedan on South Main Street
Jayquan Morton, 22, a Danville Police officer, was charged after multiple rounds were fired from an SUV into a sedan on South Main Street on 20 September 2026.
Danville Officer Charged in South Main Street Shooting
A Danville Police officer has been arrested and charged in connection with a shooting on South Main Street, wdbj7.com reports. The incident took place on 20 September 2026, when the Danville Police Department received a report of a vehicle struck by gunfire while travelling southbound on South Main Street, just before the Route 29 Expressway.
According to police, a silver SUV accelerated behind a sedan occupied by a male and female passenger. Multiple rounds were fired from the SUV into the sedan. The sedan sustained damage, but neither occupant was struck.
"Very fortunately, no one was injured. We were very fortunate, and it's a miracle that nobody was. Multiple rounds were fired into that vehicle. And it could have very easily been a much more tragic outcome," Danville Police Chief Chris Wiles said.
Investigators determined that the shooter and one of the victims were known to each other. When evidence pointed toward an off-duty officer as a suspect, Chief Wiles requested the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation to take over the inquiry.
As a result, Virginia State Police charged Jayquan Morton, 22, a two-year officer of the Danville Police Department, including training. Morton was transported to a magistrate, where he was held without bond. His location is being withheld due to safety and security concerns.
Morton was hired by the Danville department in August 2024, completed the police academy in spring 2025, and finished field training in October 2025.
"Officer Morton was hired in August of 2024. He completed the academy in the spring of 2025. Completed field training in October of 2025. So, he is just not quite a year out from having completed field training," Wiles said.
Following a multi-jurisdiction and multi-state effort to locate Morton on Sunday and into Monday morning, he was arrested without incident during a traffic stop in Danville, conducted by a Pittsylvania County Sheriff's Deputy and a Virginia State Police Trooper.
Chief Wiles described the arrest as an unprecedented blow to the department.
"Obviously, this incident is an unprecedented shock to the Danville Police Department. Any breach of the considerable trust our community has granted us is taken with the utmost seriousness," he said.
Morton has been placed on leave without pay pending further administrative action.
Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation at 800-542-5959.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)