Police identify 20-year-old man killed in shooting with officers

Staff report

Salisbury Police have identified a young man killed in a shootout with officers early Sunday.

Alphonso Leroy Howard Simmons Jr., 20, of 801 Grace St., died after being shot multiple times. Police officers say he fired at them first.

Police Chief Mark Wilhelm said this morning he is not yet prepared to release the names of the three officers who fired at Simmons. He did not explain why, except to say the State Bureau of Investigation is conducting inquiry, standard procedure when an officer shoots someone.

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

According to police, Simmons 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.

Police say Simmons produced a handgun and shot at officers, who then returned fire. Simmons was killed instantly.

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 gasoline at the Rushco station at Jake Alexander Boulevard and Mooresville Road.

She told dispatchers four men involved in the robbery drove away in 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, near the intersection of Jake Alexander Boulevard and Brenner Avenue and not far from Civic Apartments.

Shortly, police found a car matching the description of the suspect vehicle in the apartment complex.

Accompanied by a Rowan County sheriff's deputy, police officers approached the door of the apartment to inquire about the vehicle 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.