Man was fighting with girlfriend before shooting officer in uptown, records say
A Gastonia man was arguing with his girlfriend and grabbing her face in uptown before an off-duty Charlotte police officer confronted him Sunday and the suspect shot the officer, according to a court record.
Court records identified the man as Demetruis Bristow, 20, who faces charges including attempted first-degree murder and assault on a government official. Mecklenburg County District Court Judge Roy Wiggins denied him bail at a court hearing Monday morning.
Bristow camped out in the lobby of his girlfriend’s apartment building drinking alcohol Sunday morning, according to a police affidavit filed in Mecklenburg Superior Court. He asked to borrow a phone to get a ride, and began “yelling, cursing, and threatening” his girlfriend over the phone.
Once Bristow’s girlfriend arrived, a witness told police, the couple got in her car and Bristow began physically assaulting her. The witness around 6 a.m. alerted a nearby Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer, who called for help and tried to de-escalate the situation.
When Officer Daryl Napper approached Bristow and asked him to get out of the car, Bristow smacked the officer’s phone out of his hand and began hitting him, according to the affidavit. A witness told police he then heard gunshots and saw blood on the ground and a gun in Bristow’s hand.
Bristow ran, according to the witness, who provided his description to the police. After officers tracked Bristow down and ordered him to show his hands, he jumped a fence and continued to run. Officers eventually apprehended Bristow and located his backpack and gun, the affidavit says.
Napper was “operating in his official duties as a law enforcement officer by responding to a domestic violence call for service,” the affidavit reads.
Napper, who was shot in the leg, experienced “mass blood loss” and lost consciousness several times at the scene, according to the affidavit. Paramedics brought him to Atrium Hospital, where he immediately went into surgery. His current condition is critical but stable, the affidavit reads.
This story was originally published July 7, 2025 at 2:57 PM.
