DURHAM, NC- Police officers and Law Enforcement Today have long warned that the anti-police sentiment sparked most recently by the death of George Floyd in 2020 would have serious consequences for law enforcement. Officers have become gun-shy and hesitant to use force, including deadly physical force, where it appears to be entirely warranted.
The most recent incident took place in Durham, North Carolina recently, after the shooting of a 16-year-old in the parking lot of a Food Lion grocery store in the city. DPD Corporal Rex McQueen shot sixteen-year-old Joshua Garcia after responding to reports of cars racing in the area just after midnight on Nov. 17, according to WRAL News.
According to a warrant filed by Durham police, McQueen’s body-worn camera showed an object striking the windshield of his patrol vehicle. McQueen left his vehicle and gave chase to the suspect, Garcia, who threw the objects.
“RM [McQueen] can be heard giving multiple commands to the male to stop. The male can be seen holding an object in his left hand,” the warrant says. It then describes the object the male subject (Garcia) holds as a handgun.
On his body-worn camera, McQueen can be heard telling Garcia to “put it down” four times, “get on the ground” five times, “don’t do it” twice, and “drop it” once.
Garcia disregarded McQueen’s commands and ran through a bush area of the parking lot and fell, the warrant says.
“The male got back up and appeared to be raising the firearm towards RM. After making that action, shots were fired by RM, the male dropped the gun, and ran northwest through the parking lot,” the warrant continued.
After the shooting, during which Garcia was struck, he ran to a vehicle that drove off, however, was later stopped by Durham police. Garcia was then transported to the hospital.
Durham police said they would not release the body camera video at this time, as it would require a petition from the department to a judge, as required by North Carolina law. The department indicated they had no plans to petition a judge at this time, although WRAL said they would.
According to Durham police, Garcia was shot twice. The agency has filed juvenile petitions for assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer, possession of a handgun by a minor, and resist, delay, or obstruct a public officer.
McQueen is currently on administrative leave, as is standard for police officers who use deadly physical force on a suspect. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and Durham Police Department’s Standards Division are investigating the shooting.
The warrant was not clear about the initial contact McQueen had with Garcia when he (Garcia) was told to drop the firearm.
Was Garcia pointing the gun at McQueen? If so, why did the officer hesitate to shoot when he had clear authority to do so?
Was it because police officers have become hesitant, sometimes to their detriment, to use deadly physical force when they are legally permitted to do so?
This is the result of the Floyd death, where police officers are under a microscope any time they use force of any kind upon minorities, even if they are themselves a minority. There are obviously more details to iron out, but McQueen eventually took the right course of action when Garcia raised the firearm toward him.
To be clear, this is not an indictment or criticism of the officer, only the environment police officers must now operate in.
As expected, Garcia’s family is attempting to paint a different version of events than those the warrant says McQueen’s body-worn camera shows.
Garcia’s uncle, Jamie Gueta, told WRAL that Garcia was shot as he was “running away” from police, shot twice in the back. Police did not confirm that version of events. However, does it make sense to anyone that after McQueen had previously warned Garcia no less than four times to drop the gun, he would suddenly shoot him in the back without cause?
McQueen is a decorated officer who the Durham Police Department has recognized on numerous occasions. For example, in one incident, McQueen helped save the life of someone who nearly died by suicide.
Gueta said the family needs “to have more information about it” (the shooting). “We need to know what happened. Police officers need to talk to my sister [and] to us,” he told WRAL.
The car “takeover” in Durham is part of a national trend where groups gather in parking lots or busy intersections to drive like maniacs, burning rubber, and “blowing donuts,” sometimes with people hanging out of the vehicle windows. Some people have been seriously injured or even killed in such incidents, and police nationwide have struggled to stop them.
A veteran Durham officer shot a 16-year-old after police claim the teen pulled out a gun.
— Sarah Krueger (@WRALSarah) November 19, 2024
The officer was in the area after 911 calls about a car club racing.
I’ve been reporting on the dangers of car meetups for four years, including a death at a meetup over the summer. @WRAL pic.twitter.com/aGB8BU6nDM
One nearby resident said he was “shocked” by the takeover in the Food Lion parking lot.
“I was completely shocked,” Alexander Harris, a nearby resident, said. “I was completely shocked,” Harris said. “I honestly thought it was something to do with the high school football game or somethign like that. That’s the only kind of noise you hear around this area.”
Harris said he heard sirens and saw several police cars speeding down the road.
“I saw at least five, but it sounded like 20 to 40…like it was a lot,” he said.
Harris expressed concern about the takeovers getting closer to his neighborhood.
“It shouldn’t really be something that’s too close to a neighborhood,” he said. “Because car shows, meet-ups, and races are always something extremely loud and dangerous so that being close to residential areas is something that shouldn’t be a thing.”
CBS-17 said in a news conference days after the shooting, Durham Police Chief Patrice Andrews said McQueen was “grossly outnumbered” when he arrived at the scene. Andrews disputed Guerta’s claim that Garcia was shot in the back, stating any such claims are “trying to incite anger around the situation by using inflammatory and untrue statements.”
Andrews said McQueen made numerous efforts to de-escalate the situation.
‘He even at some point said ‘son,’ referring to the juvenile, trying to in some way connect with him to get him to drop that firearm,” Andrews said. “It was almost as [if] he was very disappointed that he had to use the force that he did.”
Andrews also explained why the department would not release the body camera footage.
“It is a drain on my legal staff to obtain those court orders, to show in court, to go through the motions,” the chief said. “We are a very large agency. We are a large city, and we don’t have the capacity to be able to do that.”
Andrews complimented the responding officers, claiming the footage backs up their restraint.
“The body-worn camera footage showed extreme professionalism and restraint while rendering medical aid to the juvenile suspect,” she said. She said their quick actions “very likely contribute to the fact that he is alive today.”
Andrews said that after a review of the shooting, she did not see any violations of department policies regarding the use of force.
Andrews also took the occasion to speak to the current state of affairs between police and young people.
“These juveniles have little regard for authority, and we need to do better,” she said. Parents, you need to talk to your kids. You need to educate them on the consequences that could end their lives.”
Thankfully, McQueen was not injured, and the young man was not killed, despite the fact he was asking for it. It could have turned out much worse, with police officers again mourning the loss of their own and another juvenile offender getting away with the murder of a police officer. These are the unintended (or perhaps intended) consequences of putting every single move police officers make, sometimes in split seconds, under a microscope.
