By Sarah Nagem and Jessie Burchette
snagem@salisburypost.com
A Rowan sheriff’s deputy was one of three officers involved in the fatal shooting of a robbery suspect early Sunday.
Deputy James “Jay” Davis was one of the officers who fired at Alphonso Leroy Howard Simmons Jr., Sheriff George Wilhelm said Tuesday.
But Salisbury Police Chief Mark Wilhelm continued to decline to identify the two Salisbury Police officers who fired at Simmons. The 20-year-old man died at the scene.
Sheriff Wilhelm said Davis was at a gas station after 2 a.m. Sunday when he heard of an armed robbery at another station.
Davis offered to help Salisbury Police officers in their search for the robbery suspects at the Civic Apartments off Brenner Avenue, south of Wilkesboro Road.
At the apartment complex, officers found the car used by the four men who robbed a woman at the McDonald’s/Ruschco station on Jake Alexander Boulevard.
When they knocked on the door, Simmons ran out the back door and eventually encountered the deputy and the Salisbury officers, Chief Wilhelm has said.
Simmons, of 801 Grace St., Salisbury, fired at the officers first, police said. Davis and the Salisbury officers then shot Simmons more than once.
None of the officers was injured.
Davis has worked as a Rowan County sheriff’s deputy for nearly three years, a county personnel officer said.
As part of routine protocol, Davis has been taken off patrol and put on administrative duty, Sheriff’s Capt. John Sifford said Tuesday.
But Police Chief Wilhelm said he would not release the names of his two officers until they undergo a psychological stress debriefing today.
A psychological stress debriefing involves a trained professional talking to the people involved in the incident, he said.
“That’s a traumatic situation,” he said of the shooting. “Even though they were not physically injured, they may have been psychologically injured.”
But Sheriff Wilhelm, Sifford and other county officials released Davis’ name based on N.C. law governing personnel information. The law says certain information, including suspensions and “other change(s) in position classification” for city employees are a public record.
Chief Wilhelm said the two Salisbury officers have been placed on administrative duty, which means they will work desk jobs during the investigation of the shooting.
“They’re not on administrative leave,” Chief Wilhelm said. “They’re not suspended.”
The officers were not scheduled to work Monday or Tuesday, he said, but they are scheduled to work today.
Chief Wilhelm said he does not interpret the law to mean he must release the names of the officers. Administrative duty does not bring a change in pay or title, he said.
Mike Tadych, an attorney for the N.C. Press Association, said the Police Department is required to release the names. Agencies must make public any information regarding employees’ changes in job status, he said.
“That is not accurate,” Tadych said of Chief Wilhelm’s interpretation of the law. “If they’re on administrative leave (duty), they’re not doing what they were before.”
Tadych said assigning officers to desk duty is considered a change in position.
“Did they have that option before Saturday?” Tadych asked. “That sounds like a change to me.”
When asked about the law, Chief Wilhelm said, “Laws are to be interpreted. I interpret it differently.”
Ken Deal, director of administration for Rowan, said the county has always released information on changes in status of county employees in compliance with state law.
Chief Wilhelm also refused to address speculation circulating in the community about the shooting.
He said he is not worried about any rumors or speculation surrounding Simmons’ death.
“Releasing the names of the officers is not going to stop the (rumors),” he said.
The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting and will make any statements about the case, Chief Wilhelm said.
“I do not interfere with their investigation,” he said.
Chief Wilhelm said he did not know how many times Simmons had been shot.
A spokesman for the N.C. Medical Examiner’s Office in Charlotte declined to answer any questions about the autopsy, including a preliminary cause of death.
She said the State Bureau of Investigation had asked that no information be released. State investigators did not return a reporter’s call to their Harrisburg office Tuesday evening.
Sheriff Wilhelm said Rowan District Attorney Bill Kenery will make the final determination on whether the shooting was justified. But so far, he said, law enforcement’s actions that morning seem in order.
“From everything I understand, it was a justified law enforcement shooting. … He (Simmons) shot at several officers,” Sheriff Wilhelm said.
He declined to answer other questions about the incident, saying the case belongs to Salisbury Police and the state investigators.