Report: Suspect in Raleigh officer shooting ‘extended both hands’ as if pointing gun

The suspect in a Jan. 4 shooting involving a Raleigh police officer “extended both hands together as if he was holding a firearm,” according to a follow-up report released by the city of Raleigh.

No one was injured in the incident, the report says.

The officer who fired the weapon, Senior Officer R.S. Matroo, was not wearing a body camera during the incident. He has been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation.

The preliminary report, standard after a shooting involving an officer, describes what happened the morning of Jan. 4.

A criminal investigation will be conducted to see whether Matroo firing his weapon was in accordance with North Carolina’s arrest laws, according to the report. The findings will be presented to the Wake County District Attorney, who will decide whether or not to prosecute. The Raleigh Police Department Internal Affairs Unit will conduct an administrative investigation to see whether Matroo followed the department’s policies and procedures.

Meanwhile, the detective division will investigate the actions of the suspect, identified as 18-year-old Najae Davonte Riley, according to the report.

Riley was charged Jan. 4 with assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer; robbery with a dangerous weapon; and second-degree kidnapping. He is in Wake County Detention Center without bond.

Details of the shooting

According to the report, the events started about 7:48 a.m. when an armed man, identified as Najae Riley, 18, was reported attempting to break into a car.

Riley is accused of pointing a handgun at the owner of the vehicle, who was inside her house and watching from a window, the report said.

He didn’t break into the car and ran away, the report said. But a short time later, Riley chased after a city sanitation truck on Creech Road, near Southeast Raleigh High School, the report said. He ordered them at gunpoint to get out of their truck, the report said. He got in the driver’s seat but ultimately was unable to drive it, the report said. He fled on foot, taking a city-owned cell phone from the vehicle, the report said.

The two workers reached out to Officer L.A. Campbell, who was en route to the original 911 call, the report said. As Campbell drove to find Riley, the report said he entered the street “with both arms extended straight out in front of his body, while holding a dark object in his hands. While holding the object in both hands as if it were a handgun, he began pointing it directly at Officer Campbell’s vehicle.”

Campbell believed he was pointing a gun at her, the report said, so she started firing at him, using the police vehicle as protection. She repeatedly asked him to drop the weapon, the report said. He didn’t, and he ran to hide behind a tree, the report said. He “dropped a dark object to the ground” and ran away, the report said. The report said Riley’s cell phone was found in this area after the incident.

Campbell started chasing after him and believed Riley still had a gun, the report says. He continued to refuse commands to drop his weapon and “thrusted both his arms forward towards her, as if he were pointing a weapon.”

When Matroo arrived to help, Riley extended his hands together as if he were holding a gun and pointed his hands toward the officer.

Matroo thought Riley was pointing a gun at him and shot four rounds at him, the report says. Riley was not hit by any bullets, the report said. Riley complied with instructions after that.

Police believe Riley used a handgun found in a backyard during the initial attempted car robbery and the attempted carjacking of the solid waste services truck, the report said.

Dashboard camera and video footage are available from Campbell and a third officer, the report says. The city of Raleigh has petitioned the court to release the dash camera and body camera videos. The hearing for the petition is set for Jan. 17.

The Raleigh Police Department changed its body camera policy last year after a fatal shooting in April when the officer didn’t activate his camera that he was wearing. According to the policy, the cameras should be turned on “as soon as feasible during all contacts involving actual or potential violations of the law,” The News & Observer previously reported.

Riley’s next court date is Jan. 27.

This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 5:10 PM.