21-year-old man fatally shot by Chatham County trooper pointed gun at officer, video shows
A 21-year-old man killed by a state trooper in Chatham County pulled out a gun during a traffic stop and stepped out of his vehicle with it before being shot once, new video shows.
Mark Anthony Diaz died after he was shot by trooper Rodney N. Cook on May 30, Memorial Day. Cook initially stopped Diaz for a seatbelt violation, authorities said previously.
Dashboard camera footage from Cook’s patrol car was released Tuesday morning after the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said it would ask a judge for permission to publicly share it, as required by state law. The State Highway Patrol’s troopers don’t wear body cameras.
Moises Diaz, who is Mark’s older brother, said the State Highway Patrol showed his family the footage.
He said his brother was driving with a friend to another friend’s house to watch an anime show on TV when he was stopped. Mark Diaz lived in Staley, a small town in Randolph County.
He said Mark was a nonviolent person, and he didn’t know he owned a gun.
“They were going to search his car,” said Moises Diaz, 25, in an interview with The News & Observer.
“I think he just got scared. If my brother did point the gun at (the trooper) with bad intentions, then at least they could have disarmed him, or tried their best to like, detain him, but then again, it was in the heat of the moment.”
What the video shows
After Cook, a 16-year Highway Patrol veteran stationed in Chatham County, stops a white Ford pickup truck on a residential street in Siler City, he asks the driver and passenger why they’re not wearing seatbelts while driving on U.S. 64.
“The reason why I stopped you is you’re not wearing a seatbelt,” he is heard saying in the video. “The law says you have to have it on no matter where you’re at on the road.”
He then asks him for his license and registration, which Diaz and a passenger says he cannot provide.
During the brief interaction, Cook asks how much marijuana is in the truck and then says, “I smell something,” followed by a command for him to step out of the vehicle.
A brief struggle suddenly ensues between Cook and Diaz, who is still in the driver’s seat. The Highway Patrol says this is when Diaz took out a pistol and Cook tried to disarm him.
As Cook retreats to his car with his hand on his gun holster, a hand holding a pistol emerges from the driver’s-side window.
Diaz opens the driver’s door and steps out of the car with the gun in his hand.
Cook shoots him one time and Diaz falls backward, the weapon still in his grasp.
The car, which remained in drive when Diaz stepped out, rolls forward and crashes into a parked car, prompting a passenger to sprint out of the car and away from the scene.
That passenger later returned to the scene during the investigation, authorities said previously.
While Diaz remains on the ground, Cook approaches with his weapon drawn, instructing him to let go of the gun, but he manually disarms Diaz while he is still on the ground.
Following that, Cook begins providing CPR.
Diaz was transported by emergency medical personnel but later died from his injuries that day, authorities said previously.
Cook was not injured. He has been placed on administrative duty pending an internal investigation, which is routine in trooper-involved shootings.
Moises Diaz, 25, said he believes his brother made a mistake in pulling out a weapon.
“I got a little bit of clarity out of (the video),” said Moises Diaz. “No matter what the situation, it’s clarity so I can move on with my life.”
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This story was originally published June 7, 2022 at 10:52 AM.
