Man wounded as Durham officers try to search home

Officers entered the home at 905 Colfax St. at about 10:30 a.m. to serve a search warrant in a drug case, said Kammie Michael, spokeswoman for the Durham Police Department.

"Shots were fired shortly after the Selective Enforcement Team made entry and encountered the armed suspect," Lt. Patrice Vickers said. "Right now, everything else is under investigation.”

It's unclear whether the man fired on the officers, but Vickers said no officer was injured.

The wounded man, who police identified as Rahmil Ingram, 19, of Chapel Hill, was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. There was no word on his condition.

Neighbor Betty Williams said police brought several people out of the house in handcuffs. The violence no longer surprises her, she said.

"It happens all the time from this street right here to Alston Avenue," Williams said. "When you see it every day, you know, you get used to it."

Rev. Pebbles Lucas, assistant pastor at First Chronicles Community Church, which is on Lincoln Street about two blocks from the site of Tuesday's confrontation, said she would like to see more police in the area each day.

"I think that would be just a small way of saying that we are out here and we are not going to have crime," Lucas said.

Don Hill, who operates a community store nearby, said it's not up to police alone to reduce crime in the area.

"I believe it takes everybody, a community at large," Hill said. "It takes a village to raise a community and child, and I believe that, if the neighbors would work with the police and cooperate, then every neighborhood would be a safe neighborhood."

Mayor Bill Bell recently unveiled a plan to crack down on gun-related crimes in Durham, including setting higher bonds on people charged with crimes involving firearms.

"Incidents such as this, in my opinion, really bring home the fact that we've got to be more involved in attempting to reduce violence in our communities," Bell said.

No charges have been filed in Tuesday's incident, and the officers involved in the shooting haven't been identified.

The State Bureau of Investigation has been called in to review the incident, which is standard procedure for any officer-involved shooting. The police department's Professional Standards Division also is looking at the case.