Durham DA: No charges filed against officers who shot man at McDougald Terrace
The Durham District Attorney said Monday that no charges will be filed against three police officers who shot and killed a man at McDougald Terrace in November.
On Nov. 22, three officers – Charles Barkley, Monte Southerland and Christopher Goss – were on patrol in the area when they stopped to talk to Frank Nathaniel Clark, 34.
According to the police investigation into Clark’s death, he was talking to the officers when he made a sudden movement toward his waistband. Clark and the officers struggled, officers heard a gunshot and an officer fired his weapon, according to Durham Police Chief C.J. Davis.
Two witnesses told WRAL News that, while Clark might have had a weapon, he did not reach for it or fire it before he was killed. Police found a gun not belonging to the Durham Police Department near his body, Davis said.
The district attorney's office said Barkley shot Clark twice, once in the head and once in the thigh.
Jasmine Llyod, the mother of Clark's child, said the last four months have not been easy.
"My life has been rocky. I don't sleep at night," Lloyd said. "Barkley didn't have the right to shoot (Clark) in the head like that."
Dave Hall, a senior attorney at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice who represents members of Clark’s family, said he wants the shooting to go before a grand jury.
“When people die under violent circumstances, the typical procedure is to have the grand jury review the situation. There is no reason we should depart from that practice when police officers are involved. Given the close working relationship between the police and the DA’s office, and the fact that the officers involved have a history of excessive force, we call on Mr. Echols to refer this matter to a grand jury. When someone is shot from behind by police, their family and community deserve to know that every opportunity to find the truth and justice was taken," he said.
A spokesperson with the State Bureau of Investigation said the department handed over the information from their investigation to the district attorney's office on Tuesday.
The report shows the gun found by Clark's body had his DNA on it, and that a shell casing from the gun was found on the ground. Gun residue was also found on Clark's hands.
A spokesperson with the Durham Police Department said their internal investigation was not yet complete.
