Virginia police justify fatal shooting of black science teacher -- who was naked and unarmed

Richmond police have doubled down on the department's justification for shooting and killing a black high school science teacher while he ran down I-95 in the nude.

WTVR reported that Marcus-David L. Peters, a 24-year-old black man who was unarmed when police shot him earlier this week, crashed his vehicle on the busy interstate and then ran from the car while not wearing any clothes. A now-suspended officer described only as "a male with ten years of service" attempted to use a Taser to disable him, and when that did not work, opened fire.

"Our officers do not take the use of deadly force lightly," a statement by Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham read. "I think it’s important to remember that being naked does not remove a threat."

Peters was reportedly seen dancing and rolling around while naked prior to the officer-involved shooting, and his mother Barbara told the Richmond Times-Dispatch his behavior was out-of-character.

“That was not my son,” Peters' mother told the newspaper. “This is just so out of character. Something went terribly wrong.”