DA report: Rowan County deputy acted lawfully when he shot, killed suspect

ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. — A Rowan County deputy acted lawfully when he shot and killed a man while serving warrants back in February, according to a district attorney’s office investigation.

Jordan Mays was fatally shot by Deputy Travis James at a home on Thriftwood Court on Feb. 14. No deputies were injured in the incident, according to the sheriff’s office.

Investigators said Mays, after a tussle with Deputy Adam Dyles in a bedroom, grabbed a gun and began to turn toward deputies. James fired his AR-15, hitting Mays in the head.

The warrants being served were for failure to appear, possession of a firearm by a felon, felony probation violation, carrying a concealed weapon, and driving while a license is revoked. Mays was on the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office’s Top 10 Most Wanted list, the report said.

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In their report, the district attorney’s office cleared James of wrongdoing. Two witnesses and the four deputies at the home corroborated the sheriff’s office’s narrative of what happened.

The deputies and witnesses said the officers gave multiple commands for Mays to come out of the home.

One deputy said they saw three guns in the room with Mays, two of which were within the suspect’s reach. He said Mays ignored his commands and wouldn’t show his hands to be put in handcuffs, so the deputy struggled with him to get him away from the guns. It was during that struggle that Mayys freed himself, grabbed a gun, and started turning toward the deputies. That is when Deputy James shot him.

The deputies mentioned the lighting conditions in the bedroom were dark.

The medical examiner found that Mays was shot in the head three to five times. According to the toxicology report, he had fentanyl, acetyl fentanyl, methamphetamine, amphetamine, and cocaine in his system at the time of his death.

The report concluded that the deputies perceived an “imminent threat of serious bodily injury or death that necessitated an immediate response by law enforcement,” and therefore, the deputy didn’t violate any criminal laws.

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