RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A grand jury has indicted a North Carolina man accused of fatally shooting a young Black man leaving a neighbor’s house party.
Chad Cameron Copley, 39, is led into a courtroom at the Wake County Judicial Center in Raleigh, N.C. Monday, Aug. 8, 2016. Copley, who apparently called police to complain about “hoodlums” near his house, was charged with murder after he shot and killed a black man outside, authorities said. (Chuck Liddy/The News & Observer via AP)
Local media outlets report that Chad Copley was indicted Monday on murder charges in the Aug. 7 death of 20-year-old Kouren-Rodney Thomas.
According to authorities and 911 tapes, 39-year-old Copley fired a shotgun from inside his garage after calling police to complain of “hoodlums” in his neighborhood. Thomas’ mother says he was struck while walking with a friend to their car.
The home of Raleigh shooting suspect 39-year-old Chad Cameron Copley is seen Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016, in Raleigh, N.C. Police say Copley fired a shotgun from inside his garage and fatally struck a 20-year-old black man. Witnesses say the body lay close to a mailbox. (AP Photo/Jonathan Drew)
Copley, who is White, told a dispatcher he “fired a warning shot” to people “showing a firearm.” But the party’s host says he didn’t see anyone with a gun.
Thomas’ family says they hope the indictment sends the message that “this kind of malicious behavior cannot, and will not, be tolerated.”