RALEIGH, NC (WNCN) – Raleigh police are investigating following a deadly officer-involved shooting Monday at the intersection of Bragg and East streets.
The incident occurred shortly after noon, police said.
The victim’s mom told WNCN her son, Akiel Denkins, was wanted on a warrant. Denkins was running from police when he was shot in the back and killed, the victim’s mom, Rolanda Byrd, said.
Rolanda Byrd also said that her son had died in the shooting. Denkins’ mom said he had two children.
“He was unarmed and he was running away because they couldn’t catch him and he jumped the fence and they shot at him seven times,” Byrd said.
During a news conference around 4 p.m. Monday, the Raleigh Police chief Cassandra Deck-Brown said that a gun was found near the victim.
Police have not confirmed the identity of the victim, but later confirmed that he did die.
At the scene of the shooting, several people had gathered on Monday afternoon and later came together in a prayer circle for the victim.
Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane told WNCN:
“It’s obviously a sad, terrible situation and we’re all very saddened by the news but I really don’t have any information right now. The Raleigh Police Department is currently working on a report and we’ll get that out to you as soon as we can.”
“We were scheduled to talk about it today because it’s something everyone across the country is talking about….I don’t know if [body cameras] would have made a difference today. The primary thing is that we don’t want these situations to happen at all in the first place, cameras or not.”
The SBI is on scene of the shooting.
