DA: Officers justified in March shooting death

BLADEN COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The District Attorney has ruled two officers were justified when they shot and killed a man in Bladen County in March.

Investigators said Cpl. Cley Carroll of the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office and Donnie Williamson of the Bladenboro Police Department shot Declan Owen, 24, on St. Patrick’s Day.

Sheriff James McVicker said the incident happened in a wooded area near Dublin. Deputies said they tracked a man to the area off of Highway 41 after responding to a call about a man lying in a ditch with a gun in the 1100 block of Hickory Grove Ball Road. Deputies said that man was Owen, who was armed with a semi-automatic 9 mm gun about one-eighth of a mile from West Bladen High School. When the officers say they asked him to show his hands, he pointed his gun at them. That’s when they opened fire.

The SBI investigated the shooting. What they found led DA Jon David to clear the officers of any wrongdoing. In a news release David said the officers were justified in using deadly force when they were threatened.

“The shooting in this case was not excessive, but rather was a measured response to Mr. Owen’s actions,” David said. “The investigation also revealed that impairment may have been a contributing cause of the victim’s actions.”