An agent with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation will not face charges in the fatal April 11 shooting outside an Academy Sports store in Apex, according to Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman. 

Investigators say Dayve Rafael-Sanchez and a woman had just stolen ammunition from the sporting goods store when Agent Denzel Ward, who was returning from training, confronted them. Rafael-Sanchez pointed a rifle at the SBI agent before Ward shot him, according to a report from the district attorney.

What You Need To Know

  • Wake County DA Lorrin Freeman said the SBI agent who shot and killed a man outside an Academy Sports store in Apex

  • Investigators said the man stole ammunition before he was confronted by the agent who was shopping at the store

  • The man pointed a rifle at the SBI agent before the shooting

  • Police shootings are typically investigated by the SBI. The DA asked the Apex Police Department to lead this investigation because it involved an SBI agent

“Mr. Ward reasonably believed that his life was in danger at the time he fired three shots at Mr. Rafael-Sanchez resulting in his death,” according to the investigative summary released by Freeman’s office. 

Ward was not wearing a body camera during the shooting, but there was surveillance video from Academy Sports and multiple witnesses, according to an investigation by the Apex Police Department. 

Typically, police shooting investigations are done by the SBI. But because this case involved an SBI agent, the district attorney asked the Apex Police Department to investigate. 

Police found that Rafael-Sanchez and a woman stole ammunition from the store. Ward was shopping in the store at the same time, according to the report. As the agent was leaving, he saw the two running from the store, the report states.

Ward held up his badge and told the pair to stop, but the woman got into the driver’s seat and tried to start the car, the report says. Ward saw a rifle in the front seat and pulled out his handgun, according to investigators. 

The report says Rafael-Sanchez grabbed the rifle from the front seat and pointed it at the SBI agent. Ward fired his gun three times, hitting Rafael-Sanchez, investigators say. Once Ward got the other suspect under control, he began giving first aid to Rafael-Sanchez.

When police got to the scene, they found a Sig Sauer SIGM 400 rifle, similar in style to an AR-14, on the ground next to Rafael-Sanchez, investigators say. The gun was loaded and the safety was off, according to the report.  

“The evidence  from the crime scene and from civilian witnesses corroborate the statements of Agent Ward that he shot Mr. Rafael-Sanchez in response to Rafael-Sanchez grabbing the rifle and pointing it at him,” according to the report from the district attorney.

“A review of all the evidence in this case leads to a conclusion that the use of force was lawful and that a prosecution is not warranted,” the report states.