CMPD chief: Officer shoots person at southwest Charlotte apartment complex

CHARLOTTE — A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer shot a man while responding to a 911 call that someone was chasing another person with a gun in southwest Charlotte Wednesday morning, according to Chief Johnny Jennings.

Channel 9 crews arrived at Brown Grier Road at Annabelle Place just after 3:30 a.m. to find a heavy police presence at the Pringle Square Apartments.

In a 5:30 a.m. news conference at the scene, Chief Jennings said officers got the 911 call at 3:20 a.m. for a person who was chasing someone else outside with a gun.

When the police arrived, they found someone at the scene and an officer fired his gun, Jennings said.

It is unclear whether the person he shot was one of the people referenced in the 911 call or someone else, Jennings said. He said only one person -- the person shot -- was found at the scene.

The person shot was identified as 29-year-old Tabian Ruff.

A neighbor told Channel 9 that she woke up to the voices of police officers outside her window, talking to the person who had just been shot.

“It was the police yelling, ‘He’s here, he’s here. We got him, we got him,’” the neighbor said. “All my family run to the living room we were scared.”

Ruff was taken to the hospital. Jennings said he was alert, conscious and expected to recover. CMPD said he was shot in the leg.

“We heard the guy yelling because he was in pain,” the neighbor said.

Jennings said the officer was taken to the hospital for “precautionary reasons,” but no officers were hurt.

The State Bureau of Investigations is handling the case and per protocol, CMPD is conducting an internal investigation, Jennings said. The officer is being put on administrative leave, which is also standard protocol, Jennings said.

Jennings said officers are still looking for evidence. He said they don’t think anyone was outside when the shooting happened, but they plan to canvas the apartment complex where it happened. He asked anyone who knows anything to come forward and talk with them.

Police have not said if the person who was shot had a gun.

“These are always dangerous situations,” Jennings said. “You have split-second decisions that you have to make. We’re going to make sure that the SBI takes this case and they investigate it thoroughly.”

Several Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers were at the scene investigating. For several hours, they blocked off the entrances and exits to the apartments for their crime scene, and wrapped crime scene tape around several buildings in the area.

“I moved here thinking I’d be very, very safe. I would never expect this type of police activity like this,” neighbor Natasha Green said.

This is a developing story. Check back with wsoctv.com for updates.

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