NC sheriff’s deputy cleared after shooting armed suspect. What we know.
An Orange County sheriff’s deputy “was lawful and reasonable” in using deadly force to stop a suspect who tried to shoot him in August, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.
The suspect, Derick Andre Engram Williams, was injured but not killed when Deputy Branden Kern shot him while deputies were trying to arrest him on warrants accusing him of Wake County crimes.
It was the first shooting by an Orange County deputy in over six years, the Sheriff’s Office said.
District Attorney Jeff Nieman issued his decision in a news release, saying “the shooting of Mr. Williams is a tragic event, which fortunately did not result in the loss of his life,” but the deputy was justified in using force.
“It is always tragic for all involved when law enforcement officers must use deadly force to protect themselves or the public,” Nieman said.
“Deputy Kern reasonably feared for his life and the lives of other deputies and civilians present at the scene and therefore acted reasonably under the circumstances to protect the public, himself, and his fellow deputies,” he said.
Arrest warrants, shots fired
Deputies, who had warrants charging Williams with felony intimidating a witness, misdemeanor harassing phone calls, and misdemeanor cyberstalking, attempted to arrest him at his home on Carolina Loop in Hillsborough on Aug. 25.
The deputies had received a bulletin from the Raleigh Police Department before going to the house that showed Williams holding a firearm, the news release said Wednesday.
The bulletin also quoted a message that Williams allegedly sent to the victim in the Wake County case, stating, “I told you drop the charges or I’m going to have a shootout with the police and die.”
While deputies surrounded the front and back of the house, Kern went to wait in his marked patrol car on St. Mary’s Road, north of Hillsborough, in case Williams tried to escape in that direction, the release said.
Kern pulled into a driveway when he saw a man, later identified as Williams, jogging on St. Mary’s Road and tried to get out of his car, it said. That’s when Kern said Williams pointed a handgun at him and attempted to fire, but the gun malfunctioned, the release said.
Williams tried to clear the malfunctioning gun while running toward a house on St. Mary’s Road in the direction of other deputies and civilians, it said.
Kern told investigators he got out of his car and ordered Williams to drop the gun, but Williams instead tried unsuccessfully to fire again.
Kern said he fired multiple shots at Williams, later telling investigators that “he was in fear for his life, as well as afraid for the safety of other officers,” the release said.
Three shots hit Williams, the release said.
Firearm seized; suspect treated, arrested
Deputies who arrived at the scene found him near a Ruger .380 handgun, the release said. A .380-caliber round also was found where Kern said Williams first tried to shoot at him.
Williams was taken to the hospital to be treated for his injuries, and the State Bureau of Investigation was called in to investigate. Kern, who had worked at the Sheriff’s Office since 2013, was put on paid administrative leave.
He will now return to active duty, Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Alicia Stemper said. He and other involved in the incident “received and continue to receive the level of support and care they need,” she said.
Williams is now in Central Prison in Raleigh, where he is waiting to be tried on the Wake County charges, Nieman told The News & Observer.
In Orange County, he faces a charge of resisting a public officer for an incident that occurred before he was shot, and he also is charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and assault on a law enforcement officer with a firearm in connection with the Aug. 25 shooting, Nieman said.
Williams’ next court hearing has not yet been scheduled.
This story was originally published December 20, 2023 at 3:51 PM.
