CHARLOTTE - At 1:15 p.m. Thursday, March 20, 2008, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police responded to a call for service at the Food Lion supermarket at 3024 Prosperity Church Road regarding a disturbance.

Upon arrival, the officer observed Mr. Darryl Wayne Turner (DOB 6/7/90) assaulting the store manager by throwing an object at him. Mr. Turner appeared to be in a highly agitated state. He refused all verbal commands and advanced towards the officer. The officer deployed his Taser to get Mr. Turner under control.

Consistent with CMPD policy when a Taser is deployed, the Charlotte Fire Department and MEDIC were called to the scene. They noticed Mr. Turner had become unresponsive and transported him to CMC University where he was pronounced deceased. As with any death investigation, the Medical Examiner will determine cause of death in this case.

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As is standard procedure with an in-custody death, Homicide detectives are conducting the investigation and will present the results to the Mecklenburg County District Attorney. Internal Affairs is conducting a separate, parallel internal investigation. A Review Board, made up the officer's chain of command, Internal Affairs and an outside civilian participant from the Community Relations Committee, will review all available evidence and interview appropriate witnesses to determine whether all departmental policies were followed.

The CMPD has used Conducted Energy Weapons (in this case, Tasers) since 2004 and have not had any deaths associated with its use. Last year, officers used Tasers 138 times. Officers use them to prevent, whenever possible, the escalation to the use of deadly force.