SALISBURY, N.C. -- Police shot and killed a robbery suspect over the weekend in Salisbury.

Police said that just after 2 a.m. Sunday, they responded to an armed robbery at the parking lot of the Ruschco at Jake Alexander Boulevard and Mooresville Road. The victim told police she had been robbed at gunpoint and that four men left in a white Toyota Camry. She gave police a partial tag number and told officers a window was broken out of the vehicle and covered with plastic.

Shortly after, officers located a vehicle matching that description parked in front of an apartment at Civic Apartments on Hall Street.

An officer from the Salisbury Police Department and a Rowan County sheriff’s deputy approached the apartment to ask about the vehicle. When the officers knocked, a man left through the back door of the apartment, police said. Authorities said the officers ran after the man.

When the man ran around a corner, he ended up running toward other officers. Police said the man pulled out a gun and started shooting it at the officers. Two police officers and a sheriff's deputy shot back and hit the man.

Salisbury Police Chief Mark Wilhelm said he isn't sure how many times officers fired back.

"I know it was more than one shot," Wilhelm said. "And I don’t know the number of shots that we fired."

Family members identified the suspect as 20-year-old Al Simmons.

Simmons' step-father, James Jones, said Simmons had run from police before.

Jones said his step-son did not deserve to die.

"We're not saying what he did was right, but they could've handled it better than that," Jones said. "The man would still be alive. I mean, what he did was not worth taking his life."

Wilhelm wouldn't comment on the use of deadly force, saying it was under investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation.

"If the situation justifies deadly force, then they're authorized to use deadly force," he said. "And that'll be part of the of the investigation by the SBI to make that determination."

Simmons was pronounced dead at the scene. The SBI is now investigating the incident, as is standard procedure with any officer-involved shooting.