CMPD cop tried to help a man in crisis before he threatened officers, report says
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The police officer who shot and killed a man outside nightclub Coyote Joe’s in December will not be prosecuted.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Joseph Calabro “was reasonable in his belief that the decedent posed an imminent threat of great bodily harm or death to others” when he shot Lucas Armstrong, District Attorney Spencer Merriweather wrote in a letter to the State Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday.
Armstrong worked security at Coyote Joe’s, in west Charlotte, but was off duty when Calabro shot him three times on the night of Dec. 28.
A friend of Armstrong’s had warned security and police that Armstrong had a gun in his van and planned to kill himself that night, according to the district attorney’s letter, which summarized evidence gathered by the SBI.
They found him near the van, the letter said, and he was “clearly impaired and extremely erratic and emotional” as he pointed the gun at his own head.
Officer Michael Miles — who also worked security at the nightclub and knew Armstrong — tried to talk him into putting the gun away for several minutes, Merriweather wrote. That did not work.
Several times, Armstrong referenced forcing police to shoot him, the letter said.
“I know if I point this at you, you’ll put me out of my misery,” he told Miles, according to the letter.
When Armstrong walked toward Miles and shouted at him, Calabro drew his weapon, the letter said. Calabro told Armstrong to drop his weapon six times, it said.
“I know you’re ready, because the second that I point this at you, I know…” Armstrong said, according to the letter.
Calabro then shot Armstrong three times in the chest and neck, killing him, Merriweather wrote.
“The law does not require an officer to wait for a firearm to be pointed at himself or others before he is entitled to take action,” the district attorney concluded, noting the officers and civilians in the parking lot and in Coyote Joe’s. “No available evidence in this case would enable the State to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Calabro did not act in defense of himself or others.”
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.