Raleigh police shot man 11 times, autopsy shows. No drugs or alcohol found in system
Reuel Rodriguez-Núñez, who was killed by Raleigh police officers in May after he set police cars on fire outside of a police station, was shot 11 times by officers, an autopsy report released Wednesday by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shows.
Police fired on Rodriguez-Núñez, a 37-year-old man from Raleigh, outside of the Raleigh Police Department’s Southeast District police station on Rock Quarry Road on the afternoon of May 7.
Officers fired a total of 30 rounds after Rodriguez-Núñez threw a Molotov cocktail in the direction of an officer, the police department said previously. Rodriguez-Núñez succumbed to his injuries at the hospital, according to the autopsy. None of the four officers involved were injured in the incident.
The autopsy shows that he was shot in his right foot, through his torso, in his thigh and up to his right ear.
A toxicology report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner says that nicotine was found in a urine sample. There were no traces of alcohol, drugs or medications detected in his system at the time of his death, according to the report.
In addition to an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation, which is routine in officer shootings, an administrative investigation by the department’s Office of Professional Standards is also being conducted.
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman has not issued a decision about whether the officers acted lawfully. Earlier this month, Freeman told The News & Observer she had not yet received the SBI’s investigation. She did not immediately respond to The N&O’s email on Wednesday.
Circumstances of shooting
Rodriguez-Núñez arrived in a vehicle in the parking lot of the police station and began to set parked cars on fire with with cups of flammable liquid, according to the Raleigh Police Department in May. Police officers arrived on the scene 15 minutes later.
One officer who arrived asked Rodriguez-Núñez, “What’s going on, man?“ What’s going on?”
The officer did not draw his weapon. Rodriguez-Núñez can be heard responding, “Today ... is my day to move on.”
The same officer says: “Calm down brother. You don’t have to do this.”
The deadly shooting occurred after Rodriguez-Núñez didn’t respond to officers who commanded him to stop throwing the cups, referred to as Molotov cocktails. He continued to throw them in the direction of officers, video footage shows.
Security and body camera footage released by police showed the encounter, including an officer, identified as Master P.W. Coates, shouting, “Go ahead (expletive) do it,” at Rodriguez-Núñez, who stood near his vehicle with a cup of flammable liquid in hand.
Officer Coates stood closest to Rodriguez-Núñez and drew his gun from its holster.
“Do it! Do it! Go a-(expletive)-head. Go right (expletive) ahead. Go ahead (expletive). Do it! Do it!” he shouted.
After he was shot, police officers handcuffed him, and a knife was seen on the ground near him. Officers started administering CPR.
Rodriguez-Núñez’s family has said he had a history of mental illness. Local activists have called for Coates to be fired.
“My brother ... was just sending a message of his mental illness,” said Jasiel Rodriguez-Núñez, the brother of Reuel, to reporters previously. “It was a way of speaking out in his mind. He was having a breakdown.”
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This story was originally published August 24, 2022 at 1:08 PM.
