SBI investigating after police kill suspect at Raleigh shopping center

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina investigators are conducting a probe into the fatal shooting of a man by a police officer in the state's capital city, authorities said Sunday.

Soheil Antonio Mojarrad, 30, was killed in an encounter with an officer Saturday night at a shopping center in the eastern part of the city, Raleigh police said.

It's unclear what prompted the shooting. Officials did not immediately disclose whether Mojarrad was armed with a gun or other weapon when he was shot.

Police identified the officer involved in the shooting as W.B. Edwards. Edwards was equipped with a body-worn camera at the time of the shooting, but that it was not activated, officials said. Raleigh police and agents with the State Bureau of Investigation were reviewing other video related to the incident, police said.

Authorities said the SBI will submit the findings of its criminal investigation directly to the Wake County District Attorney. Raleigh police will conduct an internal affairs investigation focused on compliance with departmental policy, while local detectives will investigate Mojarrad's actions leading up to the shooting.

According to the City-County Bureau of Identification's website, Mojarrad has a string of arrests in the Raleigh area dating to 2009 and was most recently arrested in January on a charge of simple assault.

Mojarrad, who was charged in 2017 with assault on a company or campus police officer and disorderly conduct, also has been arrested several times on drug charges, as well as charges of larceny and trespass.

Online records also indicate that he was arrested in Flagler County, Florida, in 2009 and charged with shoplifting and resisting an officer.

Associated Press