No charges against officer in Person County Courthouse shooting, DA says

ROXBORO, N.C. (WTVD) -- Criminal charges will not be pursued against a police officer after a September shooting at the Person County Courthouse.

A defendant at a trial was shot and killed after he became enraged and rushed toward the judge, overpowered a deputy and grabbed for the deputy's gun.

That man, Christopher Thomas Vaughan, was then shot by a Roxboro police officer. Vaughan later died at Duke University Hospital.

District Attorney Lorrin Freeman reviewed the SBI's investigation and determined that the police officer was lawful in his use of force.

Freeman said that though video of the incident did not exist, audio recording from the court hearing corroborated witness statements provided to the SBI.

"Based on all the evidence available, it is the conclusion of the District Attorney that (the officer) reasonably believed that his life, and the lives of others in the courtroom, was endangered when he shot Mr. Vaughan and that therefore the use of force was lawful," Freeman wrote.

The deputy and the officer who shot Vaughan were injured during the struggle but were treated at a hospital and later released.

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