ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — An officer has been cleared to return to duty after an investigation concluded he was justified in shooting a homicide suspect, according to District Attorney Jeff Cruden's office.
The District Attorney's Office's investigation stemmed from an Elizabeth City shooting in which two men were shot to death. One of them was shot by Lieutenant Lamar Battle, a 16-year veteran with ECPD, who's since been cleared of wrongdoing.
WATCH: Elizabeth City police provide update on deadly shooting
The shooting happened on April 20 around 2 a.m. The District Attorney's Office learned the following details about the shooting during its investigation:
- Lt. Battle, who was out on foot patrol on North Poindexter Street, heard several gunshots around 2 a.m.
- He saw Bryan White, 33, shoot seven times at Cory Revelle, 39. An autopsy later showed that Revelle was hit several times, including an entry wound to the back of his head that exited near his chin.
- After seeing the shots fired, Lt. Battle asked White to drop the weapon. White did not comply and ran down N. Poindexter Street.
- White turned toward Lt. Battle and pointed a gun at him. Lt. Battle then fired four shots, hitting White twice in the abdomen and once in the leg.
Revelle and White were both taken to the hospital, but they did not survive, police say.
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The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation then began investigating White's death since it involved an officer. The investigation entailed reviewing videos of the incident, including one from a local business that showed White shooting Revelle and one that showed Lt. Battle shooting White.
In a release, Cruden said Lt. Battle's actions were legal and justified. His full statement is as follows:
“After watching video from both a local business which showed the shooting of Mr. Revelle by Mr. White, and a video showing Lieutenant Battle shooting Mr. White, I am amazed by the bravery that officers display in situations like this. The natural response is to run from danger, Lieutenant Battle and officers like him, on a daily basis run towards the danger to protect us citizens and enforce our laws. However, my job as District Attorney is not to be amazed by officers’ bravery, my job is to review the actions of law enforcement officers to make sure they comply with the same laws that we as citizens are bound by. The law in North Carolina states that a law enforcement officer is justified in using deadly force upon another person only when it is or appears to be reasonably necessary to defend himself or a third person from what he reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of deadly physical force. It is very evident that the actions of Lieutenant Battle were consistent with those actions permitted under North Carolina law and therefore my recommendation to Chief Avens of the Elizabeth City Police Department is that Lieutenant Battle be permitted back to full duty without delay."
