‘We love you so much,’ NC woman tells husband moments before police kill him
A man fatally shot by a Gaston County police officer Dec. 7 refused multiple commands to put down a machete as he “advanced” toward officers, Police Chief Stephen Zill said in releasing details about the case Wednesday.
Zill identified the man who was shot as 42-year-old Eric Edwin Bianchi.
“Perceiving an imminent deadly threat, one officer fired their service handgun, striking Mr. Bianchi,” Zill said in a statement.
“Everything’s going to be OK” wife says on 911 call
Police also released the 911 call from Bianchi’s wife that prompted two officers to go to the home in the 200 block of Beau Drive. That’s in the rural Stanley area, off Dallas Stanley Highway (N.C. 275) about 20 miles northwest of uptown Charlotte.
In the call, Bianchi’s wife tells a dispatcher that her husband was stabbing himself in the arm and that she was trying to keep calm because of their three children in the home.
In the call, Bianchi’s wife can be heard repeatedly telling her husband that “we love you so much” and that “everything’s going to be OK.”
Officer from “high-risk specialized unit” shot man
At 12:22 p.m. that Saturday, two officers responded to the home, according to the police statement.
Zill said in the statement that “despite multiple attempts by officers to verbally de-escalate the intense and escalating situation peacefully, Mr. Bianchi refused to listen to officers requests to drop the weapon and began advancing toward the officers.”
Zill hasn’t released the officers’ names. The Charlotte Observer left two messages with the chief’s office the past week requesting their names.
According to Wednesday’s police statement, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting, while Gaston County police conduct an internal investigation.
Officer fired gun in two previous incidents, chief says
The officer who shot Bianchi has been with the department for nine years and is assigned to a “high-risk specialized unit,” Zill said. The other officer has been with the department for six years, the chief said.
The high-risk unit “is more likely to be dispatched and engage individuals with weapons,” according to the police statement. “This is important to note because the officer” who shot Bianchi has fired his gun in two other incidents over nine years, Zill said.
The SBI investigated the previous shootings “and deemed the use of force justified” in both, Zill said.
The officers who responded to Bianchi’s home remain on administrative leave pending the investigations, the chief said.
Zill also thanked the community for its patience during the continuing investigations.
Do you have information about the identity of the officer? Help the Observer report by contacting reporter Joe Marusak at 704-358-5067 or jmarusak@charlotteobserver.com.
This story was originally published December 18, 2024 at 1:27 PM.