Wake DA says police acted lawfully in fatal shooting of Holly Springs man
Holly Springs police officers who shot and killed a knife-wielding man in December acted lawfully and will not face any criminal charges, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said Thursday.
Officers shot 30-year-old Ryan Eric Schlosser on Dec. 20, 2022, after he attacked them and refused to drop a knife, according to police.
Freeman’s review included watching footage from the officers’ body cameras.
“The law authorizes an officer to use deadly force to prevent death or serious injury to himself, providing that his threat assessment is reasonably made,” Freeman wrote in her decision. “As the North Carolina Supreme Court has observed, the calculus of reasonableness must allow for the fact that Police Officers are often forced to make split-second judgments in circumstances that are tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving.”
Police responded around 9:30 p.m. to Cobalt Creek Way in Holly Springs after a man was reported to be threatening a couple with a baby and preventing a family from entering their home.
A woman called 911 from inside her car and described Schlosser as approaching her, her husband and their baby in the car, The News & Observer reported previously.
“It’s incredibly unnerving,” the caller said.
Schlosser was described as acting erratically and yelling at the couple.
Police tried to confirm Schlosser’s identity and address after finding him standing in a neighbor’s driveway without success.
He ran from officers into a townhome on the same street that was determined to be his.
Two officers chased him inside, where Schlosser pulled out a knife and attacked the officers, only giving them minor cuts, according to police.
After their demands for him to drop his knife weren’t met, both officers fired at him an undisclosed number of times. He died from his injuries at a hospital.
