Report details chaotic scene before Raleigh police fatally shot gunman in the head

A dozen frantic 911 calls poured in as bullets struck parked cars, one with children, near a Raleigh middle school on the morning of March 27.

Within minutes, police were on the scene and the suspect had been fatally shot in the head by a police sergeant, a newly released report says.

The 5-day report from Police Chief Estella Patterson for the first time names the suspect, Jorge Luis Vega-Lesama, and the officers who fired at him as he shot at cars and police around 7 a.m. in the 700 block of Cumberland Street, just east of downtown.

“Multiple callers reported that the alleged suspect, identified as a black or Hispanic male wearing blue jeans and a white tank top, was standing in the middle of the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Coleman Street intersection while actively shooting at occupied vehicles,” the report states.

Sgt. R.A. Sirianna, with his K-9 partner Tiara in his car, and Officers M.L. Adams and P.J. Fernstrum arrived and identified a man matching the suspect’s description.

Vega-Lesama began firing at the officers as they got out of their cars, and they reported “shots fired” over their radios, the report states.

Adams fired at him three times, the report states.

Vega-Lesama fired an undisclosed number of additional shots at the officers before retreating behind a house.

He then reappeared, still holding the gun, in the driveway, according to the report.

Sirianna fired four shots, including at least one to the head, the report states.

Sirianna, Adams and Fernstrum then approached Vega-Lesama, who was lying on the driveway with a handgun and magazine beside him.

Sirianna kicked the gun out of reach while the other officers kept their weapons pointed at Vega-Lesama. Sirianna called for emergency medical services at 7:07 a.m.

EMS arrived roughly six minutes later and took Vega-Lesama to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the report states.

All three officers were wearing body cameras and had dash cameras in their police cars turned on, the report says. The body camera footage has not yet been released.

The report states officers fired seven shots at Vega-Lesama, but it does not state how many times he was struck.

After Raleigh police killed two people last year, Patterson approved a new de-escalation policy that says when officers ask someone to comply with their orders — such as dropping a weapon — they must try to defuse the situation first, before drawing their weapons.

The report does not describe any verbal interaction between police and Vega-Lesama before the officers fired at him.

No officers or bystanders were injured during the fatal encounter.

911 calls describe the scene

Early that morning, at least a dozen 911 calls poured in reporting an armed man shooting at cars on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard as he walked down the street.

Audio recordings of 911 calls released by the Raleigh Police Department on Wednesday describe the scene near Ligon Magnet Middle School and the N.C. Correctional Institution for Women before officers fatally shot Vega-Lesama.

“There’s a man pointing his gun at teachers’ cars,” said one caller, who identified herself as a teacher at Ligon Magnet. “It’s quite dark. We just got to school. We can’t really see well.”

Ligon Magnet Middle School was placed on a code yellow lockdown at 7 a.m. By 7:30 a.m., the lockdown, which moves students indoors, locks exterior doors and allows staff and students to move within the building, was lifted.

As is standard, Sirianna, Adams and Fernstrum have all been placed on administrative leave while the investigation continues.

People killed by police in the Triangle

Since 2022, eight people have been fatally shot by police in the Triangle, including Vega-Lesama.

▪ On Jan. 11, 2022, Raleigh police killed 43-year-old Daniel Turcios after a crash on Interstate 440 that he was involved in with his wife and children.

Turcios, a Salvadoran immigrant, did not speak in English in the video released by police. Officers surrounded him after they saw he had a knife in his hand, which he did not drop despite orders to do so from police and a bystander speaking to him in Spanish.

▪ On May 7, 2022, multiple police officers shot and killed 37-year-old Reuel Rodriguez-Núñez outside the Raleigh Police Department’s Southeast District police station.

He was shot 11 times as he threw Molotov cocktails at vehicles and police, according to his autopsy and video released from the shooting.

In addition to the shootings, Darryl “Tyree” Williams, 32, died after being tased by Raleigh police three times on Jan. 17, 2023.

Williams was stopped by officers near a sweepstakes parlor. He screamed and told officers he had a heart condition before he was tased a final time.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has worked on the George Floyd and other high-profile cases, is representing the family.

Aaron Sánchez-Guerra contributed to this report.

This story was originally published April 3, 2023 at 10:42 AM.