LUMBERTON — No criminal charges will be brought against a city police officer involved in a shooting in November that left a woman seriously injured.
“There were no findings of criminal wrongdoing on the officer’s part,” District Attorney Johnson Britt said Tuesday.
A letter date July 27 detailing the findings of his review of the case has been sent to the State Bureau of Investigation agent who was investigating the case, Britt said. Copies of the letter also have been sent to Lumberton Police Chief Michael McNeill, the officer involved in the shooting, the woman shot, and their lawyers. A copy also was sent to Special Agent in Charge E.M. Jarman of the SBI.
Officer Daniel Maurice Smith shot Rebecca Muse Hunt on Nov. 22 as the officer was attempting to make arrests in the parking lot of the Dollar General store on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Lumberton. Britt found Hunt was using the car as weapon to attack Smith.
“As you are aware, Officer Smith was investigating whether a vehicle he observed in the parking lot of the Dollar General store located on Martin Luther King Drive in Lumberton was the same vehicle that was involved in a larceny from the Food Lion grocery store located on West Fifth Street in Lumberton just minutes prior to the encounter with Billy Gene Hammonds and Rebecca Muse Hunt. The vehicle was the same, and Officer Smith instructed the driver, Mr. Hammonds, to get out of the truck and Mr. Hammonds complied,” Britt wrote in his letter.
According to reports and witnesses, Muse tried to drive away as Smith was handcuffing Hammonds. Smith moved Hammonds out of the way as the truck, driven by Muse, starting backing out of the parking lot. The report said Muse was ordered multiple times to stop but did not. Smith was struck by the door, and he fired two shots, both of which struck Muse.
“In this case Ms. Hunt was using the truck as a weapon to effectuate her escape from arrest, as she was actually the person who stole a case of alcoholic beverages from the Food Lion grocery store, which was found in the truck, and as Mr. Hammonds reported that she told him to leave upon Officer Smith’s approach because ‘there was a warrant for her arrest because she had missed court,’” Britt wrote in his letter.
Muse was taken to an undisclosed hospital for treatment, where she remains after undergoing multiple surgeries, according to Britt.
“As a result of her injuries, her family filed a petition to have her declared incompetent and to have a guardian appointed. The Clerk of Superior Court in Bladen County declared her incompetent and appointed a guardian. Ms. Hunt’s incompetency prevented you from interviewing her as part of this investigation,” Britt wrote.
The agent’s investigation was further complicated by Hammonds’ disappearance. His sister reported him missing on Dec. 9, 2016, and he has yet to be found, according to Britt.
“Given all the circumstances and as stated, I believe Officer Smith was justified in his use of deadly force against Ms. Hunt and no charges will be brought against him,” Britt’s letter reads in part.
Clik here to view.
