Durham police name man fatally shot by officer in reported attack on Circle K clerk
Durham police have identified a man fatally shot by officers as he reportedly attacked a gas station clerk as 51-year-old Charles Walker Piquet of Chapel Hill.
The two officers who responded to the Circle K convenience store Wednesday morning were identified as Richard Gamboa and Brittney Vasquez, according to a Friday news release.
The release did not provide the condition of the 31-year-old clerk that police say was being attacked.
Officers responded around 3:30 a.m. to a reported suicide in progress at the convenience store on N.C. 54 in southern Durham, police previously said.
The clerk called 911 to report that an unknown man had come in and was cutting his neck with a bottle, according to court documents first reported by CBS 17 on Friday.
Gamboa, the first officer to arrive, found the doors locked and saw Piquet on top of the clerk, stabbing her, according to a search warrant application filed in Durham County on Wednesday, and obtained by ABC11, The News & Observer’s newsgathering partner.
Gamboa shot through the glass doors, the documents state, striking Piquet.
The second officer, Vasquez, then arrived and entered the Circle K with Gamboa.
Both officers gave Piquet commands before Vasquez fired additional shots that struck him, the documents state.
During a press conference Wednesday, Durham Police Chief Patrice Andrews said the officers forced their way inside the store and “observed an assailant violently assaulting the store clerk with a sharp object.”
Piquet died at the scene, police said previously, while the clerk was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Both officers suffered minor injuries and were treated on scene, police said.
Letter found in Ford pickup
Outside the store, investigators found a black 2004 Ford pickup with a Florida license plate.
A letter with the name “Charles Piquet” on it was in plain view on the rear seat, an SBI investigator said in the application for the warrant to “collect additional evidence related to the homicide investigation.”
Investigators later determined that the truck was owned by a relative of Piquet’s, the documents state.
The shooting will be investigated by the State Bureau of Investigation while the 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 continue, which is also protocol.
3 fatal shootings this month
The shooting was one of three fatal shootings by law enforcement officers in the Triangle this month.
On Tuesday, a Raleigh police officer fatally shot José Daniel Argueta Turcios after a crash on Interstate 440. Police say he swung a knife at officers.
On Jan. 4, Durham County sheriff’s deputies responding to a disturbance call fatally shot 28-year-old woman Stephanie Wilson in Bahama after they say she failed to drop a shotgun she pointed at them.
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This story was originally published January 14, 2022 at 12:26 PM.
