Durham police fatally shoot man assaulting Circle K clerk, chief says

Officers shot and killed a person who was attacking a Circle K store clerk early Wednesday morning, according to Durham police.

Around 3 a.m., officers responded to a reported suicide in progress at the convenience store on N.C. 54 in southern Durham, Police Chief Patrice Andrews said at a news conference.

Officers were told a man was cutting himself inside the store, according to a Durham Police Department news release.

The front door was locked. Officers forced their way inside and “observed an assailant violently assaulting the store clerk with a sharp object,” Andrews said.

The officers fired shots which fatally struck the assailant, she said.

The store clerk suffered serious injuries and was taken to a hospital. Officers suffered minor injuries and were treated on scene.

The State Bureau of Investigations will investigate the case, while the Durham Police Department conducts an internal investigation, which is standard procedure when police officers shoot someone.

The officers have been placed on administrative leave while the investigations are ongoing, which is also protocol.

“We do not know how many shots were fired. We do not know where the assailant was struck,” Andrews said. “We also at this point do not have any information surrounding the entire incident.“

3rd law enforcement shooting

It was the third shooting by Triangle law enforcement officers this month.

Less than 24 hours earlier, a Raleigh police officer shot a man after a crash on Interstate 440. Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson said the man, whom she did not identify, swung at officers with a knife.

She declined to provide his condition at a Tuesday news conference.

And last week, Durham County Sheriff’s Office deputies shot and killed a 28-year-old woman in Bahama in the northern part of the county.

The office said they were responding to a disturbance call and the woman pointed a shotgun at them despite multiple attempts to get her to put it down.

The SBI is investigating both cases.

This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 7:57 AM.

Virginia Bridges

The News & Observer

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Virginia Bridges covers what is and isn’t working in North Carolina’s criminal justice system for The News & Observer’s and The Charlotte Observer’s investigation team. She has worked for newspapers for more than 20 years. The N.C. State Bar Association awarded her the Media & Law Award for Best Series in 2018, 2020 and 2025.