CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A man accused of murdering a woman and shooting two officers at a Chesapeake apartment died in the hospital Thursday following his arrest, according to Chesapeake police.
Shaun Boker, 39, was arrested by Portsmouth police around 9 a.m. following a "brief standoff," during which he sustained superficial cuts to his arm, Chesapeake police say. The standoff that he got the cuts during occurred before Boker was taken into custody.
Boker was then taken to Maryview Hospital for medical clearance, police say, before he could be taken to the Chesapeake City Jail. He was taken to the hospital by medics from the Portsmouth Fire Department, with Chesapeake police officers accompanying them.
However, police say Boker had a medical emergency at the hospital and later died. Police did not elaborate on the medical emergency.
Watch: Man accused of killing woman, shooting 2 Chesapeake officers arrested after 'brief standoff'
Boker's death is being investigated by the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations.
From around 1 a.m. Thursday until his arrest later that morning, police considered Boker to be an at-large, "armed and dangerous" suspect. He was accused by police of shooting and killing Jessica Baldoz, 27, of Chesapeake, as well as leaving two responding officers with minor injuries, at an apartment in the 500 block of Willow Bridge Court. That's just off Greenbrier Parkway near City Park.
This all happened after Chesapeake police officers were sent to the apartment around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday for a reported domestic assault. When officers arrived, they heard a Baldoz screaming for help inside the apartment, according to police. Then, police say Boker began to fire his gun through the closed door, hitting two officers. SWAT officers and negotiators were then called in to help.
Watch: Through Their Eyes: The Ripple Effect of Domestic Violence
Police confirmed officers were sent to the apartment for a reported domestic assault, but it's unclear what the relationship between Boker and Baldoz was. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, almost a quarter of all women 18 and older in the U.S. have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner.
Intimate partner violence alone affects more than 12 million people a year, the Hotline reports.
Just before 1 a.m. on Thursday, police shared that they broke into the apartment, where they found a woman who had been shot. Police then warned the public about Boker, describing him as an at-large, "armed and dangerous" suspect wanted for questioning.
Watch: Chesapeake woman shares experience of witnessing domestic violence
A woman outside Woodbridge Apartments told News 3 Boker got away by jumping out of a window at the apartment. However, that hasn't been confirmed by police as of this writing.
Baldoz was taken to the hospital where she later died, police say. The two injured officers were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
In connection with Baldoz's death and the officers who were shot and hurt, Boker was charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer and other firearm-related charges.
