Raleigh, NC — (Scroll Down For Video) — An officer-involved shooting occurred on May 19, 2019 at 5210 Falls of Neuse Road.
According to police, At approximately 9:30 AM on Sunday, May 19, 2019, members of the Raleigh Fire Department responded to a medical call at 5201 Falls of Neuse Road. When they arrived, they encountered Michael Anthony Hendricks, Jr. who was sitting on the floor of his apartment near a cardboard box. He told fire personnel that if they did not back off he would attack. Hendricks’ roommate was present and informed fire personnel that Hendricks possessed a gun and kept it in the box immediately next to him. At that time, Hendricks began rummaging through the box. Fire personnel immediately backed away to a safe distance and asked for the Police Department to quicken their response.
In addition to the request from the Raleigh Fire Department for police
assistance, another call was made to 911 stating that Hendricks was armed with a knife and was having a war flashback. As of the date of this memo, the Raleigh Police Department has not been able to locate any record of military service by Hendricks. As Raleigh Police officers were responding to the call, they were made aware that Hendricks was armed.
Officer C.T. Melochick was the first officer to arrive on the scene. While he was in the parking lot speaking with Hendricks’ roommates about the incident, Hendricks came around the side of the building, walking toward the parking lot where Officer Melochick and the witnesses were standing. Hendricks had a gun in his hand that was raised at shoulder level and pointed at Officer Melochick. At the same time Officer Melochick spotted Hendricks, a second patrol vehicle arrived in the parking lot. Officer Melochick ran and took cover behind the vehicle that had just arrived. Mr. Hendricks’ roommates, who were behind Officer Melochick at this point, began to run or duck for cover. Officer Melochick then gave multiple commands for Hendricks to drop the weapon. Hendricks refused to drop the weapon and continued to point it at Officer Melochick, who then fired one round, striking Hendricks in the abdomen.
Officers approached Hendricks to take him into custody and advised EMS that it was safe for them to respond to the scene. Fire and EMS, who had been staged just down the block, arrived within minutes and Mr. Hendricks, who was alert and conscious, was transported to WakeMed. The crime scene was secured to await the arrival of the State Bureau of Investigation. When the gun found at the scene was collected into evidence, investigators determined it was an Airsoft gun which had been modified to remove its orange safety tip.
