Police find ‘suspicious items’ in car day after shooting that killed 2, injured officer

Raleigh police asked residents around the scene of Tuesday night’s shootout to take shelter in their homes.

Just after 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, police advised the public to steer clear of the 600 block of Democracy Street, the latest development in a domestic-related shooting that killed two people and sent an officer to WakeMed in critical condition.

Police blocked off the scene in all directions, and ATF agents were there as news helicopters circled above the Renaissance Park neighborhood off Chapanoke Road and South Wilmington Street.

Officers used a robotic device to search a white Honda with New Jersey plates that was parked on the side of the road about a block away from the shooting site.

At 4:48 p.m., Raleigh police wrote on social media that it, “executed a search warrant on the suspect vehicle. Suspicious items were found. Out of an abundance of caution, our hazardous devices unit and the ATF were called and the items were deemed to be not a threat.”

ATF agents were later seen leaving the scene and yellow tape was being removed around 5 p.m.

The Raleigh police’s social media post also announced that the shelter-in-place order had been lifted.

Earlier Wednesday, neighbors in the southwest Raleigh neighborhood described a chaotic shootout in the snow Tuesday night in which a domestic violence victim fled her house barefoot while bullets flew.

Two men died in the violence on Democracy Street, just off Tryon Road, and police have since identified the victim as John Rowe, 73, and the suspect, also dead, as Antonio Rodrigues, 70.

Police declined to identify the Raleigh officer wounded in the shooting.

This story was originally published January 22, 2025 at 4:23 PM.

Josh Shaffer

The News & Observer

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Josh Shaffer is a general assignment reporter on the watch for “talkers,” which are stories you might discuss around a water cooler. He has worked for The News & Observer since 2004 and writes a column about unusual people and places.