Teens arrested, CMPD officer on leave after robbery leads to shooting

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer is on paid administrative leave after authorities say he fired his weapon at a suspect accused of stealing a woman’s purse and later pointing a gun at him late Thursday.

Officer Daniel Rosenberger, who has been with CMPD since October 2013, was working off-duty at an apartment complex at the time of the shooting, according to a police department news release. Police are conducting an internal investigation into the incident.

Police have arrested and charged five teenagers in connection with the earlier robbery: Rayshawn Dawkins, 17; Davon DeIrish, 18; Quavon DeIrish, 16; Demaris Hinton, 17; and Lavonte Lewis, 16, according to CMPD.

No injuries were reported. It was unclear Friday which teen pointed the gun at Rosenberger, assigned to the department’s Steele Creek division.

At 11:13 p.m. Thursday, officers responded to the 300 block of West Woodlawn Road, where a woman told police two suspects got out of a car, approached her and then took her purse.

The suspects then went to the 600 block of Sharview Circle, off Tyvola Road, where someone saw them checking door handles on cars parked at an apartment complex, police said.

As the person notified Rosenberger, at least five suspects robbed a 17-year-old at gunpoint and stole his iPhone, according to an incident report. The suspects fled the scene but Rosenberger found them. He identified himself as a police officer and ordered them to cooperate, CMPD said.

That’s when one of the suspects pointed a gun at Rosenberger, police said. The officer fired his weapon.

The suspects tried to run but were caught by backup officers responding to the scene. Neither the officer nor the suspects were injured, police said.

Police interviewed and charged the teens. The two DeIrish boys, Hinton and Lewis are each charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit a robbery with a dangerous weapon. Dawkins has been charged with two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and two counts of conspiracy to commit a robbery with a dangerous weapon.

This story was originally published January 22, 2016 at 1:03 PM with the headline "Teens arrested, CMPD officer on leave after robbery leads to shooting."