CLAYTON, N.C. (WNCN) — The district attorney in Johnston County concluded their investigation into a deputy-involved shooting from February where a mental health call turned intensely violent in Johnston County.
District Attorney Susan Doyle said in a news release Monday that Deputies Derek Leagan and Zachary Petri will not be charged for shooting Anthony Wayne Collins, concluding that their use of force was justified.
According to Doyle’s statement, Collins presented an imminent threat of death or serious harm to the deputies when they arrived at a mental health call in a home on Brightleaf Drive in Clayton.
CBS 17 previously reported in February that a call went out to the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office February 4 where Collins was threatening to commit suicide.
The investigation determined that Collins verbally threatened to shoot the responding deputies multiple times, even after telling him they would get him some help. “Family members of Collins advised that he was depressed, had been drinking excessively, and threatening to get in a shootout with officers and then take his own life,” the news release said.
After repeatedly ordering Collins to put his hands up, stop reaching for his weapons and get on the ground, deputies said that Collins continued to berate and threaten the deputies. According to the release, as Collins said “I’m going to kill you” and reached for his weapon, Deputies Leagan and Petri began firing their weapons at Collins, striking him several times.
The release also said Deputy Petri recovered three weapons from Collins that were fully loaded and a cartridge in each chamber. Collins ended up with non-life-threatening injuries.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation reviewed the report with the Johnston County district attorney before making the decision not to charge the deputies.
