Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP holds press conference after Dennis Bodden’s killing by police

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) – The Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP will hold a press conference at 10:30 a.m. on the shooting death of Dennis Bodden by an off-duty police officer in May.

WBTV will broadcast the press conference online and via the free WBTV News App.

According to a press release, Bodden’s mother and other people close to him will also speak and demand a comprehensive investigation into his death.

Bodden was killed by an off-duty Pineville police sergeant after a suspected shoplifting incident.

According to police, the officer was patrolling the McMullen Shopping Center when a 911 call came in about a possible shoplifting at the Food Lion on Johnston Road.

(New details released after off-duty Pineville police officer shoots suspect)

He allegedly confronted Bodden in the Food Lion parking lot, which led to a physical altercation. Bodden then allegedly ran toward an apartment across the street.

Police said they deployed Tasers, but another physical altercation occurred in the parking lot of the apartments. Bodden allegedly grabbed the officer’s gun and was then shot by the police sergeant.

“When someone assumes this is just a simple theft or shoplifting case, that’s not always the case. And when you get careless, that’s when police officers get hurt,” Pineville Police Capt. Corey Copley told WBTV two days after the shooting.

“It’s just hard for me to swallow that we spent everything on onions and vegetables and things like that. And now that life is over, that doesn’t add up – the math doesn’t add up,” community activist Gemini Boyd said in an interview in May.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is currently investigating. In the meantime, the sergeant is on leave from the Pineville Police Department in accordance with standard protocol.

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