CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A deadly shooting involving a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer is under investigation.
Officers were called to Frazier Avenue near West Trade Street around 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday in reference to a report of someone using a firearm in the street. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said neighbors called 911 to report a man shooting his gun in the air.
The first officer on the scene approached the person, who was later identified as 44-year-old Nicholas Demar Lopez, and asked him to put his hands up, according to CMPD. Lopez began walking away from the scene. The officer noticed a weapon in Lopez's hand and asked him to drop it. CMPD said while Lopez was walking away, he pointed the firearm at the officer and in a matter of seconds, the officer fired their weapon at him.
"The barrel of the gun was pointing at the officer at least [once], and that’s pretty evident on the body-worn camera footage as well," Jennings said.
Authorities transported Lopez to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The officer was also taken to a hospital for precautionary reasons and was released without injury, according to CMPD.
Because Lopez was walking away, attorney and executive director of Emancipate NC Dawn Blagrove told WCNC Charlotte it is imperative the body camera footage of the police officer is released for transparency.
"Law enforcement needs to make sure that it is doing everything that it can do to be fully transparent with the community as quickly as possible, and to provide access to that body cam footage that is being paid for with tax dollars," Blagrove said.
North Carolina law requires someone to file a court order for police body camera footage to be made public. The petition must get approval from a superior court judge.
Wednesday night, WCNC Charlotte was on the scene for more than an hour waiting for information to be released when CMPD released a video on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to recount the situation without any questions from media outlets.
CMPD held a standard news conference shortly after and answered questions from journalists. However, officials declined to comment on camera on why a video statement was released before the news conference. CMPD said off-camera that they have been doing these types of videos for two years for officer-involved shootings. A CMPD spokesperson noted this situation was different, however, because the video was released ahead of the standard news conference.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and CMPD are investigating this incident. More information will be provided when it is available.
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