The man shot by police Thursday evening was said to be responsive and talking to investigators but was listed in critical condition.

Police identified the man as 21-year-old Terrence Darden.

Darden was shot by a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer around 8:22 p.m. during a foot case at the Timber Ridge Apartments – the same complex where two CMPD officers were shot and killed in 2007.

Police gave the following description of event:

Three CMPD offers were at the apartments as part of a “focused mission” team in a crackdown on robberies at Timber Ridge. The officers approached Darden and three or four other men in common area at the complex.

As the officers approached, Darden began running and the officers gave chase. At some point during the chase, according to police, Darden produced a handgun. Officer Thomas Wishon fired his service weapon, striking Darden once in the upper body; detectives are still trying to determine whether the bullet entered Darden’s chest or back.

Police said they recovered a gun at the scene. Police said Darden, during questioning at Carolinas Medical Center, admitted to having the gun.

Darden was charged with assault with a deadly weapon on a law enforcement officer, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of marijuana with intend to distribute carrying a concealed weapon and resisting a law enforcement officer.
After he is released from the hospital, police said, Darden will be booked into the Mecklenburg jail.

As is customary following a police shooting, Wishon was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

Darden served two months in jail last year for felony possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, according to a search of N.C. criminal records. In North Carolina, convicted felons are not allowed to possess guns.

On March 31, 2007, officers Shelton, 35, and Clark, 34, were shot at Timber Ridge after they responded to an unrelated domestic-disturbance call at the apartments.

Police have charged 29-year-old Demeatrius Montgomery with two counts of first-degree murder, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in a trial set for later this year.

The troubled, 100-unit complex has seen several homicides since the police killings.
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Charlotte Observer reporter Cleve R. Wootson Jr. contributed to this report.
 

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