By Richard Barron
News & Record, Greensboro, N.C.
GREENSBORO, N.C. — The city’s police chief and other officials are working on a new security strategy after a troubling incident last Friday where a man set a patrol car on fire, attacked an officer and was shot to death outside of department headquarters.
Chief Brian James told the City Council on Tuesday that police staff will begin to create new security plans for each department location in light of the incident.
“I’ve never seen a crime scene at a police facility in my entire career so, certainly, it was unnerving,” James said.
James said Monday that Officer J.M. Chavez, a 22-year veteran of the department, was assaulted by 41-year-old Christopher Corey Moore of Greensboro last Friday afternoon.
At 3:08 p.m., Moore entered the department’s employee parking lot and used an accelerant to set a marked patrol car on fire. After lighting the fire, Moore attacked Chavez, who was entering the building.
“Moore struck the officer multiple times in the face and head before placing his arms around the officer’s neck,” James said.
During the attack, Moore tried to take Chavez’s firearm.
Two nearby officers — A.L. Dellinger and R.T. Brooks — found Moore struggling with Chavez. Dellinger, who joined the department in 2009, and Brooks, a 10-year veteran, stopped the assault.
Following the incident, James said the officers shot Moore “ending the threat.”
Moore was pronounced dead and identified by police on Saturday.
The investigation into the incident has been turned over to the State Bureau of Investigation, which is standard procedure for an officer-involved shooting.
Assistant City Manager Trey Davis, who oversees the police department, told council on Tuesday that the city has already been working with Guilford County officials on a security plan after several shooting incidents in and around Governmental Plaza downtown.
The city is also bringing in a security consultant to consider ways to increase safety at the Melvin Municipal Office Building. Davis said the plan will likely include more security cameras and other measures.
“We’re surveying our employees to make sure our employees feel safe,” Davis said.
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Also at Tuesday’s meeting, members voted unanimously to appoint a Citizens’ Redistricting Committee to help redraw the city’s five council districts based on new population data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The committee will include seven members from each of these groups:
- League of Women Voters of the Piedmont Triad
- International Advisory Committee
- Greensboro Neighborhood Congress
- Greensboro Chapter of the NAACP
- George C. Simkins Memorial PAC
- Greensboro Chamber of Commerce
- Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Council
A lawyer for the Parker Poe law firm, which is helping to manage the process, said the committee consists of two white women, two Black men, one Black woman, one Latina and one white man.
The committee will hold a series of public hearings with a goal of drawing new district maps by mid-October or early November.
(c)2021 the News & Record (Greensboro, N.C.)