By Lauren Horsch
The Herald-Sun
DURHAM, N.C. — Police officers in Durham are being told to remain vigilant and use their instincts after two shooting incidents involving officers in less than a week.
Deputy Chief Larry Smith said the department is very concerned after two unidentified males fired shots at an officer on Christmas Day and another officer’s apartment was shot at on Monday.
Smith said the recent attacks are not only on individuals but also the “system of law and order.”
It is unclear whether or not the officers were specifically targeted, Smith said.
The first incident occurred on Christmas Day, when Officer J.T. West was approached by two men while sitting in his police cruiser.
West got out of his car to speak to the men, but before he could get a word out police allege one of the men started shooting. The suspect fired six shots.
West fired two shots back while taking cover.
“Whether they intended to attack (West) before he exited his vehicle, we’ll never know unless we make an arrest and the assailant tells us that,” Smith said. “What we do know ... there was a completely unprovoked attempt to kill him.”
Smith said investigators have a few leads they’re looking into in the first incident.
The second incident came on Monday, when an off-duty officer was at his apartment on Meriwether Drive when his sliding glass door was shattered by a gunshot.
Police are still unsure if the shot came from a pellet gun or a real gun.
The officer was not injured and Smith said he did not use a marked police cruiser as a “take home” vehicle.
Both of these incidents are putting officers on edge, especially after the killings of two New York City police officers earlier this month.
“There is clearly an anti-police sentiment on some level in our culture right now,” Smith said.
Even though the sentiment exists, Smith said he wasn’t placing blame.
“I’m just here to tell you that we’re dealing with that and it concerns us,” he said.
After officer-involved events, officers worry about the morale of the force, Smith said.
“I won’t speak to how it’s affecting the morale, but when I speak to the officers ... I know they’re concerned about this,” he said.
Currently no policy or procedure changes have been put in place to add extra protect to officers. Smith said the department is looking into options and deciding if changes need to happen.
The message being given to officers and commanders at this point in time is to stay extra vigilant while on and off duty.
“One thing about the training of a police officer is it heightens an officer’s instincts about certain things,” Smith said. “There is no training that prepares a police officer for somebody that’s going to come up and execute them in a police car, or if they’re standing in a street ...But there is officers’ instincts, and we’re asking officers more than ever to trust their instincts.”
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