WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WFMY) – Winston-Salem Police have released video from a March 30, deadly officer-involved shooting following a traffic stop.
The officer’s body cam video was released Thursday to the public by Superior Court Judge Michael D. Duncan.
Portions of the video are graphic and include hearing gunshots, yelling, and explicit language. The City of Winston-Salem has blurred the video in some places out of consideration for the McCrae family. The City said an unedited version of the video is in the court file.
The Winston-Salem Police Department filed a request for the video to be released to the public.
“Our department is committed to transparency in cases such as this,” said Police Chief Catrina Thompson.
“Knowing the amount of public interest in this case within the community, I believe that posting the video is warranted,” said Chief Thompson.
On March 30, 2018, at 10:34 p.m., police said Officer D.E. McGuire stopped a car on Bowen Boulevard and turned on his body camera. Two men and a woman were inside the stopped car at the intersection of Douglas Hill Drive.
Officer McGuire told one of the men, 60-year-old, Edward Van McCrae to stop reaching toward "concealed areas of the vehicle." Police said despite those commands, McCrae did not stop and Officer McGuire asked him to get out of the car and called for backup.
The video then shows a physical struggle between McCrae and McGuire as the officer repeated multiple times to “stop reaching.” The struggle continues, and Officer McGuire saw a handgun. Police said that’s when he ordered McCrae not to reach for the gun before he shot his weapon. Other officers and EMS arrived and performed CPR on McCrae but he died on the scene. The others in the car were not hurt.
As part of standard procedure, Officer McGuire was placed on administrative leave at the time.
Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill cleared McGuire in the shooting after concluding that McGuire had reason to perceive McCrae as a “serious, imminent danger.”
O’Neil based the decision on several factors, including an investigation by the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, McCrae’s autopsy report, analysis of witness statements, crime-scene photos and McGuire’s body-camera footage.
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