Raleigh police ID those in officer-involved shooting

Emmerli Latrice Wilcoxson, 37, was shot outside the Motel 6 on Maitland Drive early Thursday morning by three police officers responding to a 911 call by a clerk.

Police Chief Harry Dolan said Thursday that Wilcoxson appeared to be highly disturbed, and she confronted the officers in the street and threatened the life of one of them.

Officers responded with multiple gunshots. Investigators later determined Wilcoxson was unarmed.

She was listed in serious condition at WakeMed Friday afternoon.

The officers, Charles Matthews II, Philip D. Matthews and Diana Painter, are on administrative duty pending the outcome of investigations by the State Bureau of Investigation and the police department’s Internal Affairs Unit. The move is standard procedure when an officer shoots someone.

Dolan did not offer details about what led the officers to shoot Wilcoxson but reiterated Friday that she “made a strongly and clearly worded statement, threatening to kill the officer” and then “quickly reached toward the lower portion of her garment and immediately charged at the officer.”

“The officer ordered the suspect to stop before firing multiple shots, as the suspect continued to charge,” Dolan said. He did not provide any details of the shooting, including how many times each offer might have fired.

The Raleigh Police Department’s policy on use of force states, in part, that deadly force is only permitted for self-defense or defense of a third party from what the officer “reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of deadly physical force.”

“Officers should use a firearm as a last resort, when other means have failed or are inapplicable,” the policy states.

WRAL News has learned from multiple sources that two of the officers, including one who did not fire a weapon, are twins. Raleigh police, however, would not confirm whether any of the officers were related.

Wilcoxson, thought to be from Clayton County, Ga., had been a guest of the Motel 6, Dolan said, saying she checked in Wednesday night with an infant, who was found unharmed in a motel room.

Another guest said Friday that the woman had been staying at the motel earlier in the week but that she had a fight with her boyfriend. She left and returned Wednesday.

“There is some crazy lady out front here,” the caller said. “She’s screaming and hollering, and I don’t know what’s going on.”

Business owners in the area say there are often fights and disturbances at the motel and that police are there every day, sometimes several times. One referred to it as a “cop depot.”

“There’s definitely a concern,” said Brian Hines, who owns a barber shop in the area. “No one wants to hear of anything negative to anyone, but at the same time, it does effect business.”

Some businesses have shortened their hours to keep customers safe from the motel’s clientele, which they say includes beggars and prostitutes.

“We have several customers come in and people are standing out there trying to get money from them,” said Reuben DeLapp, a security officer at a nearby department store. “I have to go out and run the guys off, or whatever, to keep the peace.”