Video shows officer-involved shooting in Clinton
CLINTON, N.C. (WTVD) -- Cell phone video is surfacing of the fatal officer-involved shooting in Sampson County. Clinton Police shot and killed an armed man Sunday morning in the parking lot of a restaurant.
The shooting happened at the Burger King at 100 Southeast Boulevard.
The State Bureau of Investigation identified the man shot as 53-year-old John Mark Coffey of Warsaw North Carolina.
Police say around midnight, officers found a man in a truck armed with a shotgun. There was barrage of bullets fired 20 minutes later.
"Everyone was just shocked. They kept shooting him," said eyewitness Anthony Aquirre-Vazquez. "It just felt like too many."
In the cell video ABC11 obtained, the first round of shooting lasted about 12 seconds. You can hear an officer at one point give a command. There is a break and the shooting picks up again for a second time.
Aquirre-Vazquez feels officers went too far.
"From what I saw, it think it was excessive," he said. "After the first officer said to 'Hold your fire,' that should have been the only round shot."
The Clinton Police Department issued a statement that said in part law enforcement "attempted to negotiate with the subject to surrender" and "the male subject did not respond to the officer's commands to put the weapon down."
Officers said during negotiations, Coffey told police he had five rounds and was not coming out of the vehicle.
Police say officers fired after the man pointed his shotgun at them.
8 law enforcement officers have been put on administrative leave. The seven with the Clinton Police Department are Lieutenant R. K. Dalton, Sergeant A.D. Clowney, Detective S.m. Crespo, Corporal J.A. Kittrell, Corporal J. A. Snell, Officer A. W. McDuffie, and Officer B. N. Hall. North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper M High was also put on leave.
The Department's Internal Affair Unit will conduct an administrative investigation and The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into the details of the shooting.
Police said they have footage from in-car video and from body cameras. The videos are being turned over to the SBI as part of the investigation.
None of the officers are hurt.
A nearby house sustained damage during the shooting. The homeowner tells ABC11 they cannot stay in the home right now.
