No charges for Raleigh police officers in I-440 shooting of driver after crash, Wake County DA says
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- No charges will be filed against the officers who shot and killed a man in Raleigh after a road-rage crash earlier this year.
On Jan. 11, Raleigh police officers responded to a rollover crash on the beltline.
Investigators said Daniel Turcios hit two cars before crashing his own car with his family inside.
The report, released Wednesday, said Turcios, a father of three, was armed with a knife and refused to let go of one of his children.
Officers first used a Taser but Turcios recovered from the effects and struggled with officers. They shot him when he refused to drop the knife.
READ MORE: Video released in I-440 police shooting that killed Daniel Turcios in January
The report also said Turcios swung the knife at several officers.
"As the North Carolina Supreme Court has observed, the calculus of reasonableness must allow for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments in circumstances that are tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving," the report from District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said.
Turcios' family has held several rallies saying officers used excessive force, but on Wednesday, the Wake County District Attorney's Office determined that the officers' actions were justified.
WATCH: Daniel Turcios' family, activists hold news conference before video release
Kerwin Pittman, a community activist, said he is not surprised when Freeman declined to charge the officers.
"I think these particular cases speak to a larger problem at play and it is the continuum of the use of force," Pittman said.
He said he believes a policy is needed that brings in people who can deal with crises instead of just having law enforcement there.
"The meat and potatoes of this policy will be in the training, and that's where community input needs to be at the table helping to craft the training but also helping craft the policy," Pittman said. "Until we see a different model at play as far as intervention, then we will see what we see and continue to get Lorrin Freeman declining to press charges against these officers."
Pittman said he felt the officers seemed to "abandon" the training of de-escalation and crisis intervention training that they're supposed to be putting in play at the time."
"They could start out with good intentions but if the end result ends in somebody losing their life then it's still a shame, it's not a save," he added. ""Raleigh has to get to a place and RPD has to get to a place where they value lives as the top priority."
