Police shot man when he raised a gun toward officer, according to post-shooting review

A man shot by a police officer last week had raised a gun in the officer’s direction when the officer shot him once in the abdomen, according to a Raleigh Police Department report released Tuesday afternoon.

The “five-day report” is the department’s official account of the March 10 incident that sparked protests in downtown Raleigh into early the next morning.

Much of the anger, Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown said then and repeated in the report, was fueled by rumors.

“It should be noted that a false narrative quickly began to spread on social media based on misinformation at the scene of the incident,” her report to City Manager Ruffin Hall states.

“The Police Department has made every effort to be as transparent as possible about this incident from the very beginning,” it states. “This includes releasing all relevant radio traffic and 911 calls as well as the dash and body camera footage of the incident.”

Here is what Deck-Brown says happened:

Police responded to a 911 call after the caller reported a man “flashing” a gun in a group of eight men outside a restaurant at 1030 N. Rogers Lane near New Bern Avenue, at about 6:40 p.m. March 10.

When Senior Officer J. Posthumus arrived and tried to speak with the man, who was leaving the group with a pizza box, the man ran, according to the report. Posthumus ran after him and other officers followed in their patrol cars.

The man, later identified as 26-year-old Javier Torres, ran across Rogers Lane and down Rogers Farm Drive toward Kingsborough Estates, a mobile home community.

Posthumus repeatedly ordered him to drop the gun that he could see pinned under his left arm, the report states.

“As Mr. Torres reached the dead end of Rogers Farm Drive, he dropped the pizza box and Officer Posthumus saw his right hand reach across the front of his body,” the report states. “He then saw the firearm in Mr. Torres’ right hand as he entered a foot path at the dead end of Rogers Farm Drive.”

By this time, Officer J.E. Byrd had arrived and headed to Duckling Way, at the dead end in case Torres ran that way, according to the report. When Torres emerged from the foot path, he was about 10 to 15 feet from Byrd.

“By this time, Mr. Torres had the handgun in his right hand,” the report states. “When Officer Byrd first saw the gun in Mr. Torres’ right hand, it was down by his right side. Officer Byrd then saw Mr. Torres raise the gun in his direction.”

“Officer Byrd fired one shot, which struck Mr. (Torres) in the abdomen, causing him to drop the gun and fall to the ground,” the report states.

Byrd, a field operations officer who joined the department in 2012, has been put on administrative leave as the department and State Bureau of Investigation review the incident, which is standard procedure after a shooting by an officer.

Torres is at WakeMed, recovering from his injuries, police have said.

He was carrying a 9mm semi-automatic handgun with an extended magazine and an obliterated serial number, according to the report.

Police say he will be charged with altering/removing a gun’s serial number; a charge called “going armed to the terror of the public” or carrying a gun in a way that frightens someone; and resist, delay and obstruct.

This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 4:26 PM.