By Police1 Staff
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina police department released video of an officer-involved shooting of a man who reportedly pointed a gun at officers.
WBTV reports that on April 2016, police received a call about a man attempting suicide. When Charlotte-Mecklenburg police arrived, they tried to tell Sylasone Ackhavong, 41, to put his gun down.
Police said Ackhavong was “acting irrationally” and waving his gun around in a 7-Eleven parking lot. After an hour-long standoff, the suspect pointed his gun at officers, prompting SWAT officers to shoot him.
“At some point during the conversation the subject swung his arm forward, raising the gun and pointing it at one of our officers,” said Chief Kerr Putney. “Two of our SWAT officers fired rounds striking the subject.”
Ackhavong was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police said the suspect was wearing body armor at the time of the shooting.
Putney said the CMPD responded to more than 12,000 mental illness call last year, which resulted in 1,000 calls a month.
“Our problem is when it comes to the split second of you’re trying to survive an encounter all that training goes out the window because we lose the opportunity that we want to deescalate,” Putney said. “There lies our struggle.”
The two SWAT officers, Olin Lester and Derek Rud, were placed on administrative leave following the shooting, which is standard procedure. The Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office determined the officers’ actions were lawful, according to WJZY.