Raleigh police officer won’t face charges for fatally shooting man with mental illness

A Raleigh police officer will not be charged in the April shooting of a man with a mental illness who threatened him with a knife, Wake County District Attorney Lorain Freeman said.

Officer Brett Edwards shot Soheil Mojarrad eight times after responding to a reported theft of a cell phone at the Sheetz station on Rogers Lane.

In a report released Wednesday, Freeman said the officer followed Mojarrad to the edge of a shopping mall, where he spotted him behind a privacy screen at a sports bar and then pursued him to a grassy area behind the mall, repeatedly ordering him to stop.

Mojarrad put his right hand in his front pants pocket and balled up his hand inside of it. Edwards drew his pistol.

The report said that Mr. Mojarrad pulled his hand out and had a knife in his hand.

“Mojarrad continued to scream at Edwards while holding the knife in his right hand,” it continued. “Edwards stated that Mojarrad stepped towards him with the knife. Edwards fired what he believes were two rounds. Edwards stated that Mr. Mojarrad reacted as though he had been hit but he remained on his feet with the knife in his hand and continued to scream at him.”

Mojarrad stepped towards Edwards, who then fired two or three more times. After turning away and walking toward a hedgerow, he turned towards the officer again, who continued to fire.

“Officer Edwards reasonably believed that his life was endangered when Mr. Mojarrad repeatedly refused to follow commands to drop the knife, continued to yell at Officer Edwards in a threatening manner and moved towards Officer Edwards,” Freeman wrote.