NC police kill machete-wielding man in crowded parking lot after he ran from them
Greensboro police fatally shot a machete-wielding man in a crowded gas station parking lot late Friday after running after him for more than a mile, police officials said.
The man died after he was taken to a hospital following the confrontation at the BP station in the 2600 block of Randleman Road, according to a Greensboro Police Department news release.
Police didn’t release the names Saturday of the man and the officers who shot at him.
The department called in the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to conduct a criminal investigation into the incident, which is “standard protocol” when an officer shoots someone, police officials said.
And the Greensboro Police Department’s Professional Standards Division will conduct an internal investigation to see if department policies were followed.
Three officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative duty, according to the department news release.
The confrontation started when 911 callers reported shots being fired and fireworks going off in the 3100 block of Creek Ridge Road about 9:40 p.m., police said.
One caller said a man was “throwing knives,” but police didn’t see him when they arrived.
Just before 10 p.m., officers were dispatched to near the intersection of Creek Ridge Road and Randleman Road, where a man with weapons was reported.
The man had a large knife and a machete when officers spotted him, according to the department. The man ran 1.5 miles down Creek Ridge Road with police following him.
Officers told the man to stop and used pepper spray and a Taser on him, but still the man ran from them, according to the release.
At the BP, the man “began advancing towards officers with the knives,” police said in the news release. “Three officers fired their weapons, striking the subject.”
The officers gave emergency aid to the man until more officers and EMS personnel arrived, police officials said.