By Steve Huffman

shuffman@salisburypost.com

Salisbury Police officers shot and killed a man early Sunday after he fired at them, they say.

The shooting happened at the Civic Apartments at 715 Hall St., near the J.C. Price American Legion Post.

According to police, the man who was killed was a suspect in an armed robbery.

He was being pursued by one officer when he rounded a corner of the apartments and found himself facing three other officers.

"The male produced a handgun and fired it at the officers," reads a news release from the Police Department. "Officers returned fire, striking the suspect."

Police Chief Mark Wilhelm said the three officers who were fired upon apparently all returned fire. The suspect was hit more than once and died at the scene.

After daybreak Sunday, numerous shell casings remained spread about the site, which was cordoned off by police tape.

"It's just by the grace of God he didn't hit one of our officers," Wilhelm said.

According to police, the incident began at 2:09 a.m. when a woman called 911, saying she had been robbed at gunpoint while pumping gas at the Rushco station at the intersection of Jake Alexander Boulevard and Mooresville Road.

She told dispatchers that four males involved in the robbery fled driving a white Toyota Camry. The woman gave the dispatcher a partial license number and said one of the vehicle's windows was broken out and covered with plastic.

Another witness said he saw the suspect vehicle behind Harris Teeter at the intersection of Jake Alexander and Brenner Avenue, not far from the Civic Apartments.

Not long thereafter, police found a car matching the description of the suspect vehicle in the apartment complex.

Accompanied by a deputy from the Rowan County Sheriff's Office, police officers approached the door of the apartment to inquire about the vehicle that was parked out front.

When officers knocked on the front door, a male exited through the back door. An officer who was stationed at the rear of the apartment spoke to the man, who then ran around the side of the building toward the front.

That's where he confronted the three officers and the shooting ensued.

Wilhelm said he wasn't sure how far his officers were from the suspect when they were fired upon, but said "It was not a long distance."

He said he wouldn't release the name of the dead man until family members were notified. Wilhelm said it would be at least today before the officers involved in the shooting were identified.

They have all been placed on leave while the shooting is investigated by agents with the State Bureau of Investigation.

Following the shooting, members of the Salisbury Fire Department and Rowan County Emergency Medical Service were summoned and pronounced the man dead.

"It's bad that a person that young chose to do what he did that ended his life," Wilhelm said.

People at the apartments would say little about the incident Sunday afternoon. Some said they heard nothing.

"We slept through the whole thing. All we know is someone got shot," said one resident who didn't want to give her name because, she said, she didn't know what was true. "I just have heard so many different stories. It's surprising because it's so quiet down here most of the time."

She said investigators "were up on the roofs earlier." She thought they might be looking for ricocheted bullets.

A man who said he doesn't live in the apartments and also declined to give his name said, "All I heard was four other guys tried to rob someone."

Wilhelm said the woman who was robbed at Rushco left before officers arrived. Wilhelm said officers were trying to locate the woman and had leads as to her identity.

He said they would like for the woman to contact police.

Wilhelm said he didn't know what became of the other three men in the Camry. A search for them continues.

Sunday's shooting marks the first time since the fall of 2005 that Salisbury Police officers have shot anyone. In that previous shooting, officers had staked out the Dollar General store on Statesville Boulevard following a rash of area robberies.

When a trio of robbers exited the Dollar General, they were confronted by officers. One of the robbers was shot. All have been caught and sentenced to long prison terms for their crime spree.

Sam Wineka contributed to this article.

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