Incident Review Board Finds Officer-Involved Shooting Within Policy

Published on September 30, 2016

The Huntsville Police Department has released the Incident Review Board findings from an officer-involved shooting on September 17.  The shooting at 8212 Bailey Cove Road resulted in the death of 45 year old Robert Young.  Two officers were placed on administrative leave until the Incident Review Board was able to thoroughly investigate.

The shooting happened after officers responded to an alarm call at the Marathon gas station at approximately 3:00 a.m., September 17.  Two officers arrived simultaneously and discovered it was a burglary in-progress.  A front glass door had been broken and the officers could see Mr. Young inside.  The officers gave Young verbal commands, but he began shouting, cursing, and throwing items from inside the store.  Less than a minute after the officers arrived on scene, the man ran out of the store through the front door, and pointed what looked like a firearm at the officers.   The officers both fired their weapons striking the man multiple times.  It was later determined that the weapons were two replica handguns.  One was a replica Smith & Wesson M&P pistol, and the other was a replica Beretta 92 pistol.  No one else was injured during the incident. 

An Incident Review Board was held on Friday, September 23.  The board consisted of members of the District Attorney’s Office, Citizen Police Advisory Council and City Legal in addition to the Huntsville Police Department’s Internal Affairs and Training divisions.  The board reviewed all evidence including police and store surveillance video, crime scene drawings and photos, and officer testimony.  The Board found the officers acted in accordance with Huntsville Police Department policies and procedures and ruled the officer-involved shooting to be justified.  Chief McMurray agreed with the findings and both officers involved have returned to full duty.