RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Two North Carolina police officers were justified in fatally shooting a man who fired first after a gas station robbery in May, a district attorney said Friday.
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said in a report that David Tylek Atkinson, 24, of Greensboro carried a gun into the gas station on May 13, demanding money and taking cigars and cigarettes from behind the counter, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported.
Officers M.P. Brown and S.M. Pekich searched for the suspect and spotted a man who fit the description of the suspect, Freeman said in his report. Brown began to draw his pistol when he was shot in the chest, although he was wearing a ballistic vest. He chased Atkinson and fired multiple times, the district attorney said.
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According to Freeman’s report, Pekich responded to the gunfire, saw Atkinson with a gun and fired until the suspect fell.
An autopsy later showed Atkinson had been shot five times, including a shot through the heart. A combined 20 shots were fired by the two officers.
Freeman noted that the N.C. Supreme Court allows police to make split-second decisions and by law are justified in using deadly force when they think lives are in danger.
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