By Joe Killian
The News-Record
HIGH POINT, N.C. — When a High Point police officer shot a drunk, armed woman to death two months ago, it sparked a series of investigations that ultimately supported the officer’s use of deadly force that night.
But the investigating isn’t over for the High Point Police Department.
Next week, the department will stage a re-enactment of the shooting to find out what, if anything, could have been done better. That shooting came in the wake of three officer-involved deaths in Greensboro this year — including the Taser-related death of a High Point man.
Police said they are eager to answer any questions about excessive force.
“For any kind of shooting our people are involved in, we have a shooting review board that comes in and asks: ‘Did we follow protocol?’ ” said Travis Stroud , training officer for the High Point department. “It’s a learning experience. We’ll go to a place that is basically the same size of the house it occurred in, and step by step we’ll go through it.”
Officer Josh Clowdis shot Lori Ann Strickland Hopper four times in the head and back on March 26, when he responded to a domestic dispute call at Hopper’s Greer Avenue home. According to reports, the officer found Hopper’s husband, Douglas Hopper , bleeding and Lori Hopper wielding an open box cutter.
Lori Hopper’s autopsy report shows that she had a blood alcohol level of 0.17 at the time of her death — more than twice the legal limit for driving. Her husband also was drunk, according to police.
Clowdis told both parties to freeze, but Lori Hopper lunged toward her husband. Clowdis fired his .40-caliber service weapon, killing her.
Stroud said that during the re-enactment Clowdis will tell the review board how he made that decision.
“He’ll give us a description of what was going on, what was on his mind, but in slow-down mode,” Stroud said. “The day of the shooting I’m sure things were going a million miles an hour. When you slow things down you see what could have been done differently, if anything.”
The Greensboro police faced questions and protests of excessive force this year after three police-related deaths.
In January, Officer W.M. Symmes shot and killed Emile Baptist Williams, 39, of Raleigh . Williams led Symmes on a high-speed chase after he was suspected of stealing diamond-engagement rings from Helzberg Diamonds at Four Seasons Town Centre. Symmes was cleared of charges in the shooting on April 4.
On April 20, James Paschal Jr. was shot and killed after verbally threatening Officer C.M. Schultheis , refusing to show his hands and advancing on her during a traffic stop, police said.
On April 27, Edward Thompson Jr. of High Point died six days after Greensboro Police subdued him with mace and a Taser after a routine traffic stop. Police said they saw alcohol and drugs in the car Thompson was driving after they stopped him for speeding. Thompson was stunned with a Taser after he resisted officers and swallowed narcotics, police said. The officers involved have been cleared.
Stroud spent four years with the High Point Police Department’s vice/narcotics division and serves on its tactical team. He is responsible for training officers on when and how to shoot in the field — and he said Clowdis demonstrated that training during the shooting. He found Lori Hopper, who was armed, to be a deadly threat. When her unarmed husband advanced on the officer after the shooting, Clowdis subdued him with a baton and pepper spray.
“He saw a deadly force situation going on with the female, he took the deadly force action and then ended that threat,” Stroud said. “But even though it all probably happened in a second or two seconds, he was able to recognize that the male subject was not at the same threat level.”
Stroud said that a five-part “threat level” system is a large part of police training. Officers learn to distinguish between threat levels that range from cooperative suspects to suspects who must be stopped with deadly force.
Stroud said a domestic dispute poses one of the most dangerous situations for an officer — and Clowdis was able to walk into one and keep his head.
“When you’re dealing with multiple bad guys, you can’t just shoot both of them if they’re not both at level five,” Stroud said. “If you can’t do de-escalation, you can’t do the job. This officer got that training, and it looks like he used it.”
Copyright 2008 The News-Record