Man shot and killed while tossing a firebomb at police. His brother claims the Molotov cocktail was just a protest.
Posted by: Lauren E. Forcucci, Ph.D. - Law Enforcement Today
RALEIGH, NC – Reuel Rodriguez-Nunez was fatally shot, and now his brother is blaming the police for their use of deadly force.
Jensel Rodriguez-Nunez said that his brother was engaged in the act of protest when he tossed a Molotov cocktail at a police officer on May 7th.
On May 7th Rodriguez-Nunez drove into a Raleigh Police Department (RPD) parking lot at approximately 1 p.m. He allegedly began throwing fecal matter and urine at the station’s main entryway.
Reuel Rodriguez-Nunez was setting cars on fire prior to removing a gas can and a container from his vehicle. He placed several white cups on the ground poured the liquid into them and sat down.
At about 1:18 p.m. Lieutenant M.F. Schabel was on the scene. He soon contacted dispatch and requested Raleigh Fire Department assist with the police vehicle set on fire.
The suspect allegedly tossed liquid at police officer Schabel’s vehicle, followed by a Molotov cocktail. Schabel was in the car during this and quickly reversed the car.
Nunez said about his brother: “My brother was special. He was funny. He was loving. He was caring. He loved people.”
An early report by Raleigh Police Department reveals a different person than what Nunez described.
According to police and the early report, they say that Nunez showed up in a minivan and started to throw Molotov cocktails. He allegedly burned police cruisers and ignored police requests to stop what he was doing.
Police say a commanding officer approached Nunez, and he then allegedly tossed one of the firebombs near the officer, just missing him.
Police radio information hears an officer saying:
“He is trying to throw Molotov cocktails at us.”
Officers then began to open fire, releasing approximately 30 rounds.
There was an approximate 6-minute time-lapse between Schabel’s initial arrival from the police discharging their weapons.
Officers tried life-saving procedures until the arrival of EMS. Nunez died of his injuries at the hospital.
His brother commented:
“To me, he was just shot like an animal. He was not a psychopath.”
While his brother says he did not struggle with any mental illness, he did have confrontations with the law. Recently he spent time in county jail, and his brother thinks this is where his anger began to grow.
He said:
“Personally, I believe that my brother was protesting.
Maybe protesting things that he saw in (jail).
It was a way of protesting.
I think this was taken personal.
Like, ‘Let’s just get this guy over with, shoot him! Shoot him!
It was just one person.”
Raleigh Police released a five-day report which tells the disturbing details about what happened during the incident.
Raleigh police noted that the early report had some errors regarding the chronological order of events and submitted a new timeline.
According to the updates, Nunez came into the parking lot at 1:02 pm in his minivan. The report reveals that two police vehicles and one private vehicle were in the lot. Additional cars were not present in the lot. Also included in the updated report, Reuel Rodriguez-Nunez is heard saying to officers:
“Today… is my day… to… move on.”
The updated report explains that Senior Officer B.A. Beausoleil, Master Officer P.W. Coates, and Officer M.M. Oreskey were present during the incident.
Beausoleil recurrently told Nunez, “do not do it,” “don’t do any more,” “don’t do it,” and “don’t do it, bro.”
Nunez ignored the officer and hurled flaming liquid at Schabel’s vehicle.
RPD detectives later discovered that Nunez’s van and description matched those of a suspect who attempted to set fire to gas pumps at a convenience store the night before the incident.
Police protocol places officers involved in a fatal shooting on administrative duty.
This is the second instance of Raleigh police shooting and killing someone in 2022.
In January, Daniel Turcios was shot and killed by police.
At first, the Raleigh Police Department said Turcios was thought to be intoxicated. Autopsy results argued that point and found Turcios had caffeine and nicotine in his system during the time of death.
The five-day report said five officers responded to the crash incident.
Several 9-1-1 calls had come in reporting the crash.
Officers who arrived at the scene said Turcios, his wife, and their two sons were in the overturned car.
Police said, witnesses allegedly told them Turcios had a knife. When officers noticed the knife they took out their weapons and yelled to Turcios to drop the knife.
He refused to drop the knife. He proceeded to walk away. A stun gun was used to stop Turcios.
A struggle began and two shots were fired. Turcios was knocked to the ground. Three more shots were fired. The report said almost five seconds had passed between the first two shots and the last three.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) is investigating the shooting. Findings will be sent to the Wake County District Attorney. Raleigh Police Department and the RPD Office of Professional Standards are conducting investigations as well.
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Originally Posted by deebakes
