Durham officers shoot man trying to flee in stolen car, police say
Durham police are investigating after two officers shot a suspect they say had jumped a curb and was trying to flee in a stolen car.
The Police Department said the non-fatal incident occurred early Thursday morning in a parking lot at 311 S. LaSalle St., which is near the Durham Freeway and Duke University Medical Center.
The man was shot in the left shoulder and left arm, police said in a news release.
Here is what police say happened:
Around 3 a.m., officers patrolling outside a hotel on Front Street found a man sleeping in a car.
The man woke up, started the car and tried to drive off by “reversing his vehicle,” the release stated.
The man, whose name has not been released, hit an unoccupied Durham police car and another person’s car as he fled the scene.
At 4:47 a.m., police saw the same car in a parking lot on South LaSalle Street. The car had been reported stolen from Greensboro.
Police approached the car and “identified themselves as officers,” according to the release.
“The driver woke up, started the vehicle, backed the vehicle into an unoccupied police vehicle and proceeded to place the vehicle in drive,” the release stated. .
“The suspect then intentionally jumped the curb, which caused several officers to flee to prevent from being hit,” the release stated.
Police said two officers determined another officer was “in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death” and fired at the car, striking the man.
The man stopped the car and got out, and officers chased him on foot before taking him into custody, according to the release.
The man was taken to a local hospital, police said.
One officer also suffered minor injuries during the foot chase, they said.
Police blocked off the LaSalle Street entrance to Duke Manor apartments Thursday morning and wrapped crime-scene tape in front of apartment buildings.
Around 8:30, local students gathered by the blocked entrance waiting for a school bus.
Officers placed on administrative duty
The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative duty. This is a standard procedure in such shootings.
The Police Department did not release the names of the officers.
Because the incident involved officers firing their weapons, the State Bureau of Investigation and the Durham Police Department Professional Standards Division will both review the shooting, the release said.
In 2022, law enforcement in Durham County shot four people.
In January of last year, a sheriff’s deputy fatally shot an armed woman in Bahama and city police officers killed two men.
One had taken an officer’s gun while intoxicated in the Duke University Hospital emergency room and the other was shot when he attacked a Circle K employee, according to police.
On April 30, police shot a 49-year-old woman who allegedly had a gun after responding to an indecent exposure call on Allagosh Drive. The woman survived.
Aaron Sánchez-Guerra contributed to this report.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREOn the phrase "officer-involved shooting"
Law enforcement agencies often use the phrase “officer-involved shooting” in situations where an officer fires their weapon. But initial reports from police often aren’t clear about who shot whom. Our reporters are working to clarify the facts of the situation as quickly and accurately as possible, and will update this story as soon as we have confirmed details about the shooting.
This story was originally published January 12, 2023 at 8:18 AM.