Police: Durham officer shot robbery suspect threatening McDonald's employee, suspect identified
DURHAM (WTVD) -- Durham police are investigating an early morning officer-involved shooting at a McDonald's restaurant.
It began with a 911 call just before 4 a.m. about a robbery at the restaurant at 3117 Tower Boulevard.
Click to listen to the 911 call
When officers arrived, all the lights in the restaurant were off, but police said they noticed movement inside.
As officers went inside the business, they saw a man with his arm around a female employee's neck.
The suspect, 26-year-old Dennis Lawrence Palm Jr., repeatedly threatened to kill the employee, according to a preliminary investigation. It is unclear if Palm was armed, but Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez said in a news conference Wednesday morning that Palm was capable of hurting the woman.
Click to watch the entire news conference.
Authorities said after a brief standoff, an officer fired one shot, striking the suspect in the face. Palm, who was conscious and talking, was taken to the hospital for treatment of serious injuries.
The employee, along with two others inside the restaurant, were not injured.
The officer, Sgt. Glen Price, has been placed on administrative leave with pay, which is standard procedure in an officer-involved shooting. He joined the Durham Police Department in 1995.
The investigation is still on-going, and Lopez said it was unclear how Palm got into the restaurant.
The list of charges against Palm include kidnapping and assault on a female.
The incident is being investigated by the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation. The Durham Police Department's Professional Standards Division and Criminal Investigations Division is also investigating the incident, which is also standard procedure in any officer-involved shooting.
There was an armed robbery reported at the same McDonald's in January 2008 and a common-law robbery in July 2008. There was another armed robbery reported in January 2013.
