The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into the fatal police shooting of a man on Friday night northeast of downtown in Winston-Salem.
The Winston-Salem Police Department said in a news release that Officer D.E. McGuire, who is white, shot 60-year old Edward Van McCrae, who was black, after the man refused police orders during a traffic stop. McCrae died at the scene.
Police said McCrae was in the back seat of the car, which was occupied by another male and a female who have not been named, when McGuire initiated a traffic stop during a routine patrol. According to police, McCrae began making suspicious movements and refused McGuire’s commands to “stop reaching” into concealed areas of the car. A struggle ensued and McGuire saw a handgun, police said.
According to the Winston-Salem Journal, police would not say what necessitated the initial traffic stop, but described it as routine.
Police said McGuire used his body camera throughout the incident. Other officers arrived within seconds of the shooting and tried to resuscitate McCrae, as did medics.
McGuire received minor abrasions and the other occupants of the vehicle were not injured during the incident, according to the Journal.
McGuire, who has been with the department since 2015, has been put on administrative leave following department policy.
