Body cam footage shows gunman fired at police first in fatal Raleigh shooting, lawyer says

An attorney representing two Raleigh police officers involved in last month’s fatal shooting in a Renaissance Park townhouse said the suspect fired his rifle first as officers rushed inside.

First Class Officer M.A. Gillick remains hospitalized after the shooting on Democracy Street, which also left 73-year-old John Rowe dead of a gunshot wound.

Zebulon attorney E. Lee Turner Jr. represents a pair of officers who responded after the incident intensified and Gillick and Rowe had already been shot.

What lawyer says body cam footage shows

Turner said he has watched the body camera footage recorded by one of his clients, a police lieutenant, as he and a captain came through the front door. They found the suspect, Antonio Rodrigues, 70, in a hallway inside.

As they did, Turner said, a BearCat police truck punched through the garage to the rear.

“You see the barrel of the rifle coming out and him firing shots,” Turner said, referring to Rodrigues in the hallway. “You can see the barrel come out once, then a second time. After the second time, that’s when he falls to the floor.

Rodrigues died from his wounds in the townhouse. Turner said the events from the BearCat to Rodrigues falling took about 10 to 15 seconds, made confusing by the sound of flashbang grenades.

“It’s very quick and very chaotic,” Turner said. “It’s very fortunate you had some experienced and highly trained officers. This whole situation could have been a lot worse. They had to react to what he did, and it was confined to that small space, and you can tell the training kicked in.”

This story was originally published February 11, 2025 at 4:08 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.