A late-night altercation at Coyote Joe's nightclub in west Charlotte resulted in the death of a man following a shooting involving an off-duty officer. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is currently investigating the incident which transpired just minutes from Charlotte-Douglas International Airport on Wilkinson Boulevard.
According to WBTV, the shooting happened around 11:30 p.m. yesterday when the off-duty officer, working at the nightclub, confronted an armed suspect. CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings detailed that "an off-duty officer working at Coyote Joe’s needed help with a suspect on the scene that was armed." The officer then discharged their service weapon, fatally wounding the man.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation has taken the lead in the case, as is standard procedure with officer-involved shootings. The Internal Affairs department of CMPD, is also conducting a parallel investigation to review the circumstances of the encounter. A key piece of evidence, Chief Jennings indicated that body camera footage from the off-duty officer should reveal more about the sequence of events, asserting, "There will be, and should be, body camera footage," as reported by WSOCTV.
The identity of the deceased individual has not been released; likewise, the officer involved has not been named, but is on administrative leave pending investigation results. A gun was found with the deceased, with officers claiming he was holding it at the time of the shooting. The intentions or actions of the man with the gun prior to the fatal shooting are still under scrutiny. Chief Jennings mentioned to WCNC that there was an indication that the man might have been trying to harm himself, a point which is being considered in the ongoing SBI investigation.
The CMPD has made a call for witnesses or anyone with pertinent information to step forward, urging them to contact Charlotte Crime Stoppers. The investigations by the SBI and CMPD's Internal Affairs are still underway, as they comb through the evidence, including the aforementioned body camera footage and potential surveillance video from Coyote Joe's premise. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Coyote Joe's has stated they are unable to comment on the incident due to the active status of the police investigation.
