The city released a five-day report Friday detailing a police-involved shooting last week in which a senior officer shot at a man who had fled on foot after attempting to steal a city garbage truck near Southeast Raleigh High School.
Although the gunfire did not strike the suspect, the officer, who was not wearing a body camera at the time, has been placed on administrative duty as the department continues to review the incident.
Police received a 911 call on the morning of January 4 from a resident claiming that a man was trying to break into her car on Creech Road. The man, later identified as Najae Riley, allegedly pointed a gun at the woman while she watched from the window of her home. After Riley was unable to get inside the car, he fled on foot, the report says.
Minutes later, Riley flagged down a Raleigh Solid Waste Services sanitation truck a few blocks away and pointed a gun at the city employees in the vehicle, demanding they exit, according to the report. Riley climbed into the garbage truck and ordered one of the workers to get in beside him, but Riley was unable to drive the truck. Instead, he stole an employee’s city-owned iPhone before running away through several backyards on Slippery Elm Drive.
Officer L.A. Campbell arrived on the scene and went after Riley, who walked out onto the street “with both arms extended straight out in front of his body, while holding a dark object in his hands,” the report states.
Campbell, believing Riley was pointing a gun at her, demanded he drop the weapon and get on the ground, but Riley ran away and hid behind a tree nearby. Eventually, he dropped the object, later found to be his personal iPhone, and ran toward Southeast Raleigh High School.
Campbell chased Riley, who “thrusted both his arms forward towards her as if he were pointing a gun.” Officer R.S. Matroo then arrived and saw Riley extending his arms in Matroo’s direction. Matroo fired four rounds at Riley but did not strike him. Riley then began to cooperate with officers and was taken into custody.
Officers later found the handgun believed to be from the attempted Creech Road car break-in in a backyard on Slippery Elm Drive. The city-owned IPhone was found nearby when Riley was taken into custody.
Matroo was not wearing a body camera when he fired at Riley; however, dashboard camera footage and body-camera footage from Campbell is being analyzed. Police have petitioned to released that footage.
Matroo is on administrative duty while the police continue to investigate the incident.
Contact Raleigh news editor Leigh Tauss at ltauss@indyweek.com.
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