Police release statement about shooting

City of Morganton Department of Public Safety has released more information about the shooting Sunday night. Chief Mark Tolbert read this statement during a press conference at 3 p.m. Friday:

The Morganton Department of Public Safety wanted to take this opportunity to update the community in reference to the officer-involved shooting that occurred on August 29.
I would like to start by stating that this is certainly a tragic event. Officers put their lives at risk every day. Sometimes to protect themselves or others from harm, they are forced to take a life. We ask that this community pull together and lean on each other during this time. We ask that you support the Sipes family during their time of grieving and healing, the officers involved in this incident and the families of these officers. Lives have been changed forever.
Preliminarily, based on testimony from both citizens and officers on the scene, and the physical evidence located at the scene, we believe the evening unfolded as follows:
Sunday night at approximately 11:40 p.m., a 911 call was received by Morganton Department of Public Safety telecommunicators in reference to a disturbance at 132 Airpark Drive, Lot 2W.
When PSO [public safety officer] Johnny Cooper and Sgt. Mike Ferraro arrived on scene, no one was noted as being outside, but both voices and movement could be heard coming from inside the residence. PSO Cooper went to the front of the residence while Sgt. Ferraro went to the rear.
PSO Cooper knocked on the door in an effort to make contact with the residents inside. He identified himself as the police.
As the door to the home was swung open by an occupant, PSO Cooper heard a shot and saw an individual, later identified as Michael Sipes, moving and turning toward him with a rifle. PSO Cooper drew his weapon and fired, killing Sipes.
PSO Cooper and Sgt. Ferraro immediately called EMS for assistance and for additional officers to respond as well. PSO Cooper stayed with Sipes until EMS arrived.
As customary, the SBI [State Bureau of Investigation] was called to the scene and immediately began an independent criminal investigation into the incident. They are an objective, outside agency with a lot of expertise in investigating incidents of this nature.
Once the SBI completes its investigation, their findings will be turned over to the District Attorney’s Office who will then rule as to the appropriateness of the officer’s actions based on North Carolina law. We expect the SBI investigation to take as much as eight weeks to be completed because of the time required to complete an autopsy, including toxicology reports.
In addition to the SBI’s criminal investigation of the incident, the Morganton Department of Public Safety will also conduct a thorough internal administrative investigation. This type of investigation looks into the incident to determine if departmental procedures were followed. Currently, both Sgt. Ferraro and PSO Cooper are on paid administrative leave. This is standard protocol for an officer-involved shooting. Depending upon the SBI investigation, it is expected that one or both of the officers will return to duty in the near future.
According to N.C. law, an officer is authorized to use deadly force “to defend himself or a third person from what he reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of deadly physical force.” All MDPS officers are trained in the appropriate use of deadly force. Based on the information available to us, physical evidence and testimonial evidence known to us at this time, we believe that Morganton Department of Public Safety officers acted appropriately under the circumstances that existed on August 29th.
The Morganton Department of Public Safety is working to make sure all personnel involved in this incident receive the necessary support that is expected. While incidents of this nature can be part of the job, they are traumatic events.
It is always our desire to inform the public of the true and full facts of an incident at the earliest opportunity. As such, we are required by law, ethics and the need to insure the integrity of the investigation to do so at the appropriate time.
In closing, these are the facts as we currently know them based on physical evidence and testimony from both the officers and citizens present at the incident.
Again, we ask that you support the Sipes family during their time of grieving and healing, the officers involved in this incident and the families of these officers.