Trooper shoots, kills man during Siler City traffic stop
Jun. 1—SILER CITY — A Staley man was shot and killed by a North Carolina State Highway Patrol trooper during a traffic stop Monday afternoon.
According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Mark Anthony Diaz, 21, was shot by the trooper after displaying a pistol during a traffic stop on Harmony Drive near Solo Drive in Siler City.
At 4:37 p.m. Monday, Trooper Rodney N. Cook initiated a traffic stop for a seatbelt violation on Diaz, who was driving a Ford pickup truck. Cook, 16-year veteran stationed in Troop D, District 1 (Chatham County), fired his service weapon striking Diaz after "the suspect presented a pistol," according to the Department of Public Safety.
"Authorities on scene immediately began life-saving procedures until emergency medical personnel arrived," A DPS news release said. "The driver was transported from the scene, but was pronounced deceased at a later time. The involved trooper was not injured during the traffic stop. A passenger fled from the traffic stop, but later returned to the scene during the investigation."
Tuesday morning there were few signs that anything had taken place in the neighborhood, which is a few yards off U.S. 64. Paint marks near the intersection marked the spot where the pickup was stopped.
Cook was placed on administrative duty pending an internal investigation, which is agency protocol in any trooper-involved shooting. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is also probing the incident in a separate investigation.
