NC police shoot driver accused of backing into officers, accelerating toward others
Editor’s note: This story has been updated after Mount Holly police released the names of a suspect and the two officers involved on Monday, Feb. 14, 2022.
Mount Holly police said they shot a man Friday who backed his car into two officers before accelerating toward other officers in the parking lot of an apartment complex.
The driver was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries in the incident, police said in a news release late Friday.
On Monday, police identified the driver as identified as 29-year-old Omar De’Vone Jordan. He was released from the hospital, then arrested and charged with one count of assault with a deadly weapon/inflicting serious injury, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and one count of injury to personal property.
The two officers were taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to the release.
Police on Monday identified the patrol officers only by their first initial and last name, Officer J. Griffin and Officer L. Ruocco. Griffin has been with the force since October 2019, and Ruocco since June 2021, according to a Mount Holly Police news release.
Mount Holly police officials asked State Bureau of Investigation agents to take over the case because Mount Holly officers were involved in the shooting.
The driver was shot about 3:30 p.m. outside the Abbey Court Apartments in the 100 block of Maple Circle, according to the Mount Holly Police Department release.
Officers responded to a 911 call about “a suspicious, occupied vehicle,” police officials said in the release.
Police said they were talking with the driver when he suddenly shifted the car in reverse and hit two of the officers.
Whenever an officer shoots someone, the Mount Holly Police Department internal affairs bureau conducts a separate but parallel investigation to ensure policies and procedures were followed.
The officers were placed on administrative duty, per standard policy, police said.
In a statement, Mount Holly Police Chief Don Roper said the SBI “will conduct a thorough, independent investigation to determine the circumstances concerning the incident.”
Mount Holly is in Gaston County, about 15 miles west of Charlotte.
This story was originally published February 12, 2022 at 12:14 PM.