News
The News & Observer via YellowBrix
July 03, 2009
DURHAM, NC – Whoever fired the bullet that struck a Durham police officer in the abdomen Thursday should have known police were standing outside the door, Police Chief Jose L. Lopez Sr. said.
Officer D.J. Youmans, a Durham officer for less than two months, and his training officer, Cpl. B.D. Schnee, were responding to a shots-fired call, which was upgraded to a burglary in progress, at the South Square Townhomes on Shannon Road about 4 a.m. Thursday. Officers at a nearby police substation heard the gunshots and were headed to the area when emergency dispatchers notified them of the burglary in apartment 5-A, Lopez said.
Officers announced their presence at the front door of the apartment, Lopez said. They were met by bullets through that same door. Youmans, 32, was struck in an area unprotected by his bulletproof vest, just above his waist. He was listed in stable condition Thursday after undergoing surgery at Duke Hospital.
Thomas Rashawn Monroe, 23, whose listed address is the apartment, was charged Thursday afternoon with assault on a law enforcement officer with a firearm. He was in the Durham County jail Thursday evening in lieu of $250,000 bail.
None of the officers returned fire, something Lopez praised.
“The reality of it is they had no targets to shoot at,” he said. “You have to know who you’re shooting at. You can’t just shoot randomly into the dark or into [a] space if you don’t know what’s behind it. The big concern is once the officer is injured, that he is removed safely.”
Monroe was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon in 2005 and of drug possession in 2006.
Investigators on Thursday were looking for the weapon used in the shooting. Four people who were inside the apartment were questioned by police, who executed a search warrant at the home Thursday afternoon.
Youmans was one of two Triangle police officers who faced gunfire Thursday. Raleigh Police Sgt. B.D. Allen’s vehicle was riddled with bullets while he pursued bank robbery suspects late Thursday morning. He was not hit.