Raleigh officer on the scene at Turcios’ fatal shooting was cleared in 2020 death

A Raleigh police sergeant on the scene at Daniel Turcios’ fatal shooting on Interstate 440 last week is the same officer who shot and killed Keith Collins in 2020.

Sgt. W.B. Tapscott hit Turcios with his Taser when the man reportedly declined to drop his knife, according to the city’s five-day report on the Jan. 11 shooting.

Tapscott was not the officer who fired a gun at Turcios.

In 2020, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman ruled that Tapscott acted lawfully in shooting Collins, who fled on foot near Glenwood Avenue carrying what turned out to be a BB gun.

The Collins shooting became a rallying cry during 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in downtown Raleigh, and his family has long criticized the shooting, speaking of Collins’ developmental disability and the need to end police violence.

Tapscott had responded to a 911 call in January 2020 about a man with a gun. When he approached Collins, the 52-year-old man ran away as the officer chased, yelling, “Show me your hands!”

An autopsy showed Collins was shot six times and had several superficial injuries. A Daisy air pistol was recovered near where he had been shot.

In slowing down the body-cam video, Freeman said it appeared Collins turned and pointed the gun at Tapscott as he ran, then raised up off the sidewalk and did so again.

State law justifies police using deadly force if they feel their lives are in danger. It also factors in the split-second nature of their decisions.