Officer shoots, kills subject while defending himself from assault

MONTEZ DEWAYNE HAMBRIC

"At approximately 8:02 a.m., officers with the Winston-Salem Police Department responded to the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Carl Russell Avenue on a reported automobile accident involving a single vehicle.   Witnesses at the scene reported that a black male had fled from the vehicle immediately after the accident occurred and that the vehicle was otherwise unoccupied.  Authorities quickly determined that the vehicle was reported stolen and broadcast a police lookout detailing the physical description of the suspect.

Almost immediately, an officer located a subject matching the physical description of the suspect on foot in the vicinity of the automobile accident.  The officer spoke with the suspect and began to question him about the automobile accident.  The suspect then fled on foot toward the downtown area.  A lengthy foot pursuit ensued involving several officers from the Winston-Salem Police Department. 

Corporal D.W. Walsh, of the Downtown Bike Patrol Unit, eventually encountered the suspect in a small wooded area adjacent to the 500 block of W. 7^th Street and attempted to take the suspect into custody.  The suspect physically assaulted Corporal Walsh during the arrest attempt and as a result, Corporal Walsh fired a single round from his service weapon.

The suspect was incapacitated and medical personnel were immediately dispatched to the scene.  The suspect was rushed to Baptist Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries shortly thereafter.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations has assumed the investigation into the officer involved shooting, as is standard practice in such matters.  The Winston-Salem Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division will be conducting the investigation into the automobile accident, the stolen vehicle and the assault on the officer.  The Professional Standards Division will also be conducting an administrative investigation into this matter.  These investigations are in their very early stages and information is therefore limited. 

CORPORAL D.W. WALSH

Detectives with the Winston-Salem Police Department were able to determine that the vehicle was reported stolen in Chapel Hill, NC.  Detectives were also able to positively identify the suspect as twenty-six year old Montez Dewayne Hambric of Durham, NC.  Evidence located in the area in which officers initially encountered Montez Hambric directly linked Mr. Hambric to the stolen vehicle. 

While investigators attempted to determine why Montez Hambric might have fled the accident scene, detectives learned that in addition to the fact that the vehicle was reported stolen, the North Carolina Department of Corrections indicates that Mr. Hambric is currently on parole for a 2009 robbery conviction in Kentucky.   

A next of kin for Montez Hambric has been notified. 

Corporal Walsh is a seventeen year veteran with the Winston-Salem Police Department and has served in the Downtown Bike Patrol Division for approximately two years.  Corporal Walsh has been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation underway by the S.B.I., which is also standard practice. 

Anyone with information is asked to call the Winston-Salem Police Department at 336-773-7700 or CrimeStoppers at 336-727-2800. "

From Police Reports