CMPD officers cleared in fatal shooting of robbery suspect in west Charlotte

CHARLOTTE — Two officers with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department will not face charges after a deadly shootout with a robbery suspect last June in west Charlotte.

Kevin Boston, 45, died at the hospital after he was shot in a confrontation with CMPD officers on June 26, 2022.

A new report from the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office to the State Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday outlined the details of what led up to the shooting, and it says the officers won’t face charges. Investigators were able to piece together the details from testimony and video footage from the officers’ body cameras.

According to the report, the officers were called for a report of an armed robbery at a Food Lion on Tuckaseegee Road. Police got a report that a man in a bucket hat stole items from the store and flashed a gun at an employee before leaving with two reusable grocery bags.

The report says CMPD Officer Erik Torres found Boston walking on Tuckaseegee Road, and he asked Boston to stop and talk to him. Torres reported that he saw Boston with a gun, and Boston dropped the two grocery bags before pulling the gun out. Other officers joined in at the scene, and they told Boston to drop his gun.

Part of the report that’s based on body camera video says that Boston pulled his gun up in the direction of the officers while crossing his arms.

Torres was seen backing up while CMPD Officer Richard Meyer pointed his gun at Boston, telling him to put his hands up. The report says that Torres “continued to tell [Boston] to drop the gun, and then fired his weapon.” Torres said Boston was “still pointing” and more gunshots were heard, “along with glass shattering and the hissing of air escaping the tire on Officer Torres’ vehicle,” according to the report.

Boston had fallen to the ground, and officers told him to roll over on his stomach before he was put in custody and taken to a hospital.

No officers were hurt in the shooting.

“I can say we’re very lucky, every single day when we have an encounter that involves a deadly force situation we can send these officers home,” CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings said at the time. “We have to make sure they are emotionally and mentally OK, but the bottom line is they get to go home to their families and that’s important. At the same token, you know we still want to pray for the individual who the officers shot.”

According to the report, the CMPD officers fired a total of 13 times. Boston had fired six shots from a Ruger .357 Revolver, and he also had a zipper bag with 18 additional rounds.

The report says that based on the evidence that Boston had just committed an armed robbery, disregarded the officers’ commands to drop the gun, and then brandished the gun at them, the situation would have been justified to use deadly force. The report also says that Torres and Meyer were entitled to use their weapons in self-defense.

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