ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (WAVY) — District Attorney Jeffrey J. Cruden justified the actions of the Elizabeth City police officer who shot and killed a man on North Poindexter Street Saturday, April 20 after seeing him shoot another man, he said in a news release Tuesday.
In the early morning hours of Saturday, April 20, Lt. Lamar Battle with the ECPD was on foot patrol in the 200 block North Poindexter Street when he heard gunfire.
Battle responded to the sound and saw Bryan Christopher White, 33, pull something from his waistband and shoot seven times at Corey Christopher Revelle, 39, according to the district attorney’s office.
The officer ordered White to drop his gun, but White did not comply and was shot by the officer, according to ECPD.
In a statement released by his office, Cruden, who serves as district attorney in the First Prosecutorial District, which encompasses all of Dare, Gates, Pasquotank, Camden, Currituck, Perquimans and Chowan counties, said the officer’s actions “were consistent with … actions permitted under North Carolina law” and was justified in using deadly force.
“After watching video from both a local business which showed the shooting of Mr. Revelle by Mr. White, and a video showing Lieutenant Battle shooting Mr. White, I am amazed by the bravery that officers display in situations like this,” Cruden said. “The natural response is to run from danger, Lieutenant Battle and officers like him, on a daily basis run towards the danger to protect us citizens and enforce our laws. However, my job as District Attorney is not to be amazed by officers’ bravery, my job is to review the actions of law enforcement officers to make sure they comply with the same laws that we as citizens are bound by. The law in North Carolina states that a law enforcement officer is justified in using deadly force upon another person only when it is or appears to be reasonably necessary to defend himself or a third person from what he reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of deadly physical force. It is very evident that the actions of Lieutenant Battle were consistent with those actions permitted under North Carolina law and therefore my recommendation to Chief Avens of the Elizabeth City Police Department is that Lieutenant Battle be permitted back to full duty without delay.”
Both the Elizabeth City Police Department and the district attorney’s office requested the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation investigate the shooting of White.