Report: Raleigh officer fired 5 shots at man on I-440, wife tried to get him to drop knife

Five officers were dispatched to the scene of a crash involving Turcios and his family on Jan. 11 along Interstate 440 near New Bern Avenue. When police arrived, they found Turcios had been inside one of the cars involved in the accident that had overturned.

As police were attempting to talk to witnesses at the scene and find out what happened, "they were alerted that Mr. Turcios was armed with a knife," the report said. They also received a report that Turcios was intoxicated.

"The reality is that because this man had been in a very serious car accident and was very likely disoriented. The question is whether or not any of that was taken into consideration by the officers on the scene as they interacted with him," said Dawn Blagrove, executive director of Emancipate NC.

Officers ordered Turcios to drop his knife 12 times, and once he didn't, they shocked him with a Taser. Video shows that Turcios was shocked by the Taser in the back while he was walking away from police. Turcios fell to the ground and officers jumped on top of him to try and arrest him.

"When the officers attempted to get control over Mr. Turcios' hands, he swung the knife towards the officers, nearly making contact with officer Begin," according to the report. That's when officer A.A. Smith fired his weapon twice.

Turcios fell to the ground again, and attempted to get back up, still "wielding" the knife, according to the city's report. Officer Smith then fired his weapon three more times at Turcios, around five seconds later, the report said.

Former FBI agent: Raleigh police officer did the right thing by shooting man with knife on I-440

"Looks like the officers did everything by policy and gave Mr. Turicos every opportunity to drop the knife,” said Rick Armstrong, a union representative for the Raleigh Police Protective Association.

Blagrove questioned the actions of officer Smith and said she was concerned why an additional three shots had to be fired at Turcios after he was on the ground.

"Five seconds, that delay is a long enough time for careful deliberation and reassessment of the situation by even a private citizen, let alone by a professionally-trained law enforcement officer," she said. "We still are asking the question, why was it necessary?"

Lee Turner, the attorney representing some of the officers involved, said that this was on par with how police are supposed to use deadly force.

"They're taught (to shoot) in a two-round burst," he said. "In that five seconds, the officer reassessed, and at that point in time, the individual continued to continue to be an imminent threat against the officers, and the other rounds were fired."

According to the translator, Jerez also said, "My husband was not understanding [officers' demands] ... my children were asking them to not kill him. He was killed like a dog ... they didn't care about him."

Blagrove said she was not surprised by the city's report because she did not expect it to suggest fault.

"Obviously there is wide latitude between the factual events the eye witnesses have shared with us and the family has shared with us, and what's being reported by the Raleigh Police Department," she said. "At this point what we need is full transparency, the release of the body cam footage unredacted so that we can all see and judge for ourselves what actually happened."

Blagrove also called for an independent investigation from someone outside the law enforcement community to analyze what happened. She added that it is very uncommon for the State Bureau of Investigation to determine that an officer violated criminal law by using force.

Smith and officer W.B. Tapscott, who fired the Taser, were placed on administrative duty while the shooting is being investigated, standard procedure after an officer fires a weapon.

The details in the report "100% support" the officers' decision to shoot and kill Turcios, Turner said.

The next step is for the SBI to complete its report and give it to Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman, who declined to comment on Wednesday's five-day report.

The Raleigh Police Department will also conduct its own investigation into what happened to determine if any policies have been broken.

"From my experience for over 20 years, in just looking at the videos and the five-day report, [is] that the officers did follow all of the policies and procedures, and they didn't break any criminal laws," Armstrong said.

Blagrove, along with other Emancipate NC activists, hope that they can use this killing as a way to challenge those policies and procedures that keep police from being held accountable and "change the culture in law enforcement so that preservation of life is of paramount importance."

The report did not provide the public with the full names of the officers involved.