GREENSBORO, NC—The Greensboro police officer injured Friday in a deadly altercation at the department's parking lot has been released from the hospital and is recovering, Chief Brian James said during a press conference Monday.
Officer J.M. Chavez, a 22-year veteran of the department, was physically attacked by 41-year-old Christopher Corey Moore on Friday afternoon.
At 3:08 p.m., Moore entered the department's employee parking lot and used an accelerant to set a marked patrol car on fire. After lighting the fire, Moore attacked Chavez, who was entering the building, James said.
"Moore struck the officer multiple times in the face and head before placing his arms around the officer's neck," James said.
During the attack, Moore tried to take Chavez's firearm, according to James.
Two nearby officers — A.L. Dellinger and R.T. Brooks — heard the attack and found Moore attacking Chavez. Dellinger, who joined the department in 2009, and Brooks, a 10-year veteran of the department, stopped the assault.
On Friday, James said the officers shot at the suspect "ending the threat."
Moore was pronounced dead on scene and identified by police on Saturday.
The investigation into the incident has been turned over to the State Bureau of Investigation, which is standard procedure for an officer-involved shooting.
Moore was previously convicted of assault on a police officer in 2015.
However, James said the department had no reason to have Moore on their radar as a threat.
In response to the incident, James said the department is looking at ways to secure their parking lots and buildings to ensure safety for sworn and non-sworn employees.
It's the second violent incident at a Triad police facility in less than three months.
On June 14, Winston-Salem police say William Coleman Scott shot at the police substation on North Point Boulevard before exchanging gunfire with officers as they chased his vehicle. He was captured after he was injured in a shootout with officers at Hanes Park. Authorities later found the bodies of Scott's mother and grandmother, and have charged Scott with murder in their slayings.
"It's disturbing," James said at Monday's news conference about the Greensboro incident. "You think of (the police department) as a safe place.
"I still would like to think of it as a safe place, but understand that there can still be certain vulnerabilities and we have to be aware of that and see what we can do to mitigate that."
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