Police: Wake Forest man charged officers with knife before being shot

Alan Joseph Rushton, of 1117 Chamberwell Ave., died at WakeMed, police said Saturday morning.

According to a spokesman for the police department, officers responded to Rushton's home at about 8:30 p.m. When they arrived, Rushton ran to the second floor of the home and displayed a large kitchen knife before barricading himself in a room.

Negotiators tried for about two hours to get Rushton to surrender, police said.

When officers tried to take Rushton into custody, he charged them with the knife, spokesman Bill Crabtree said, and Officer Dustin d'Hemecourt shot him. Ruhston died at WakeMed.

“It is a tragedy any time our officers are forced to use deadly force against a citizen we are sworn to serve and protect,” Wake Forest Police Chief Jeff Leonard said in a statement. “We worked extremely hard to peacefully resolve the situation in an attempt to get Mr. Rushton the help he needed. Unfortunately, by his actions, he forced the response of our Tactical Service Unit. We extend our thoughts and prayers to Mr. Rushton’s family, as well as to Officer d’Hemecourt.”

d'Hemecourt, a tactical services unit officer, has been a member of the Wake Forest Police Department since February 2014. He was placed on paid administrative leave following the shooting, common practice after officer-involved shootings.

Wake Forest police say Friday was the second time in two months that officers had been called to Rushton's home. On July 21, officers responded to a domestic situation that also led to Rushton barricading himself inside the home. That incident ended when Rushton voluntarily left the home after several hours.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is investigation the shooting. No additional information has been released.