Pubdate: Tue, 14 Nov 2006
Source: Reidsville Review, The (NC)
Copyright: 2006 Media General
Contact:  http://www.reidsvillereview.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3214
Author: J. Brian Ewing, Staff Writer

DA: OFFICER JUSTIFIED

A sheriff's deputy's actions in the June 28 shooting of  a drug 
trafficking suspect were justified, Rockingham  County District 
Attorney Belinda Foster says.

The suspect, Lamond Duncan, died in the shooting after  authorities 
entered his home.

In a statement released Monday, Foster said the "case  represents a 
very dangerous scenario to law enforcement  officers, given the 
suspect's record of violence and  the type of weapons he possessed."

According to a State Bureau of Investigation report  reviewed by 
Foster, those weapons included a XM-15  semiautomatic assault rifle 
loaded with a 30-round  magazine and an additional 30-round magazine 
found near  Duncan, as well as a loaded semiautomatic handgun.

Deputies William Smith and Travis Loftis were part of a  sheriff's 
office's Special Response Team. The SRT along  with officers from the 
Eden Police Department and SBI  were at Duncan's Ashley Loop Road 
home before 6 a.m. to  serve two federal "no-knock" warrants charging 
Duncan,  30, with distribution of cocaine. The "no-knock"  privilege 
allowed the officers to enter the home  without first identifying 
themselves. A judge granted  the order based on Duncan's violent history.

Duncan had previously been convicted on several assault  charges, 
including felony assault on a law enforcement  officer, according to 
Foster. He also was a suspect in  the beating of an elderly woman, 
according to the  warrants.

Smith was the first officer to enter the home; other  SRT members 
followed closely.

"Within a few moments of the SRT entering the home, the  sole 
resident Lamond Duncan fired on the team, hitting  Deputy Travis 
Loftis in the back," Foster stated in the  release.

Smith returned fire, hitting Duncan three times, a  medical examiner 
and the SBI concluded.

Loftis was critically wounded in the shooting. He was  airlifted to 
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical  Center, where he under went 
several surgeries. He  suffered damage to his liver and a lung; 
doctors  removed two ribs, the statement says.

Loftis returned to part-time duty three months later.

Foster said Smith faces no criminal charges and that  SBI 
investigations into officer-involved shootings are  routine.

Foster received the SBI report Oct. 12, according to  the N.C. 
Attorney General's office.
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