news-record.com

HIGH POINT — High Point police are seeking a third man in a Monday night robbery that ended with officers killing an armed suspect. Neighbors and witnesses are speculating on the identity of the dead man.

Officers responded to an armed robbery in progress at 9:45 p.m. Monday. When the officers arrived at 612 Clover Drive, a suspect armed with a shotgun didn’t respond to their orders and made a threatening gesture, police said. The officers shot and killed the suspect.

Police have not yet confirmed the name of the dead man. But witnesses and family members say they think it was Jeremy Mills, 21, of High Point. Mills’ mother, Andrell Mills, said Monday that she received calls from witnesses who identified her son as the dead man. She has not seen or heard from him since.

“I seen him on the ground, and that’s who they shot,” said Donald Hughley, 19. “He got shot like four or five times.”

The officers involved in the shooting have been put on administrative leave, as is standard procedure. Their names have not yet been released. The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating, as they do in all officer-involved fatalities.

Shortly after the shooting, police arrested Charles Lamont Garrison, 30. He has been charged with first-degree burglary, robbery with a dangerous weapon and second-degree kidnapping. Police say Garrison was armed with a .357 revolver.

Police announced Monday that they are also looking for Ernest Darrell Roberts, 20, in connection with the robbery.

This is the second fatal shooting by a High Point police officer this year. Officer Josh Clowdis shot and killed Lori Ann Strickland Hopper on March 26. Hopper was drunk and armed during a domestic dispute with her husband. Clowdis was cleared of any wrongdoing in the shooting after an SBI investigation.

Greensboro police have also had two fatal officer-involved deaths this year.