Officer shoots 60-year-old passenger during routine traffic stop

A 60-year-old North Carolina Man was shot and killed by police during a routine traffic stop after he refused commands to not reach for his handgun. 

A Winston-Salem Police Officer D.E. McGuire was patrolling late Friday when he stopped a car containing two men and a woman at aorund 10:34pm near the 2200 block of Bowen Boulevard.

Police say 60-year-old passenger Edward Van McCrae was in the rear seat and began making suspicious movements and reaching toward concealed areas of the vehicle. 

Officer McGuire, called for back up and asked McCrae to step out of the car. 

A struggle ensued between the officer and McCrae outside the vehicle when a handgun became visible. 

‘Officer McGuire issued multiple verbal commands to Mr. McCrae ordering him not to reach for the gun,’ police said, according to the Winston Salem Journal.

McGuire then discharged his service weapon.

The officers called for backup arrived within seconds of McGuire firing, and administered CPR on McCrae, but were unable to revive him.

The subject was pronounced dead at the scene, while the officer suffered minor abrasions. 

The other occupants in the vehicle, who police have not identified, were unharmed.  

Per protocol, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation responded to the scene and will investigate the officer-involved shooting, along an administrative investigation conducted by the Winston-Salem Police Department’s Professional Standards Division.

Meanwhile, the Winston-Salem Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division is investigating the assault on the officer.

McGuire has been with the Winston-Salem Police Department since 2015, and is currently on administrative duty until the investigations are complete.