Charlotte Mecklenburg police officers shot and killed an 18-year-old man Thursday night, following a shooting on a CATS bus.
Officers were called to North Tryon Street in the University area just after 10 p.m. Thursday, after a call reporting a shooting on a city bus. CMPD says the caller reported a passenger had been shot, and that the man who shot him had gotten off of the bus and started walking away.
When officers arrived on the scene, CMPD says they officers determined the man was armed, perceived an imminent deadly threat, and fired at 18-year -old Rodney Rodriguez Smith. He was pronounced dead at the scene. CMPD says Smith fired at least one shot at the officers.
The man witnesses said Smith shot was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Police say the two men knew each other, but have not released other details other than to say it was not a random shooting.
CATS said it will not release any video from the bus until police allow it. The two officers, Michael Bell and Garret Tryon, are on administrative leave while police investigate, which is standard procedure. This is the fifth CMPD officer-involved shooting where someone has been killed in the past six months.