By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
Salisbury police officers who shot and killed 21-year-old Alfonso Leroy Howard Simmons Jr. on Oct. 12 acted appropriately and will not be charged, says Rowan County District Attorney Bill Kenerly.
Master Police Officer T.J. Crews, 33, who has been with the department since 1999, and Master Police Officer M.E. Morgan, 36, who has been with the department since August 2007, and Rowan County Sheriff’s Deputy Jay Davis were all involved in the shooting. Morgan previously worked at the Kannapolis Police Department and Davis has worked as a deputy for three years.
Simmons’ mother, Tamie Jones, said she was not aware of the findings and did not wish to comment Friday.
The Salisbury police chief, Rowan County sheriff and the District Attorney’s Office jointly requested the State Bureau of Investigation conduct an investigation of the incident.
“I have reviewed this investigation and determined that the law enforcement officers acted appropriately and did not violate any criminal law,” Rowan County District Attorney Bill Kenerly said in a statement released Friday afternoon.
Here’s what authorities say happened:
At 2:09 a.m. on Oct. 12 the Salisbury Police Department received a telephone request to investigate an armed robbery that had just occurred in the parking lot of Rushco convenience store, located at the intersection of Jake Alexander Boulevard and Mooresville Road.
The female caller reported the robbery was committed by four black males driving a white Toyota Camry with a broken-out window covered with plastic. She also provided a partial tag number and said the vehicle had last been seen behind Harris Teeter at the corner of Jake Alexander Boulevard and Brenner Avenue.
Uniformed city and county officers responded. The vehicle was located, unoccupied, in the public parking area of Civic Park Apartments in Salisbury. Officers observed suspicious activity in a nearby apartment. Two Salisbury officers approached the front door of the apartment to continue the robbery investigation. At the same time, a sheriff’s deputy went to the back door of the apartment.
A third Salisbury officer arrived, armed himself with his department-issued rifle, and also approached the front of the apartment.
As two Salisbury officers knocked on the front door of the apartment, a man later identified as Simmons exited the rear of the apartment. The deputy posted there identified himself and ordered Simmons to stop. Simmons immediately began to run away from the deputy. As one of the Salisbury officers ran to assist the deputy, the officer collided with Simmons. Both the officer and Simmons fell to the ground, the statement said.
Simmons was again ordered to stop, but he again began to run.
After running a few steps, Simmons tripped over a curb and fell. As he got back on his feet, he pointed a handgun and fired one shot at the officers.
“Mr. Simmons’ shot missed, and officers shouted for him to drop the gun. Mr. Simmons fired a second shot. Officers returned fire as Mr. Simmons began to back away from the officers. He fell to the ground in a sitting position and continued to point the gun at the officers. When he refused to drop the gun, officers fired again. Mr. Simmons was struck multiple times by the officers’ bullets. The Medical Examiner determined that two of Mr. Simmons’ wounds would have been rapidly fatal. He had a blood alcohol content equivalent to .20 on the Breathalyzer at the time of his death,” the statement said.
“A 9-millimeter pistol was found in Mr. Simmons hand, and one fired 9-millimeter shell casing was located at the scene. The S.B.I. laboratory could not conclusively determine whether the fired shell casing matched Mr. Simmons’ pistol, but microscopic similarities existed. The laboratory also determined that the pistol’s safety mechanism was defective and that the magazine catch spring was broken. It is not possible to determine when this damage to the pistol occurred. However, the pistol was found to be otherwise fully functional. An examination of residue collected from Mr. Simmons’ hand revealed the presence of particles characteristic to gunshot residue,” the statement said.
“I regret Mr. Simmons’ death. However, the evidence shows that the law enforcement officers acted in lawful self-defense in the course of a felony investigation and did not violate any criminal law of the State of North Carolina,” Kenerly said in the statement.