Greensboro police release video of officers killing machete-wielding man

The Greensboro Police Department has released the body-worn camera and vehicle-mounted camera video showing the moment Greensboro officers shot and killed 41-year-old Ernesto Ruiz.

The three Greensboro police officials will not face criminal charges after the fatal officer-involved shooting in the parking lot of a BP, according to the office of District Attorney Avery Crump.

On Friday, June 30, 2023, around 9:55 p.m., officers with the Greensboro Police Department were dispatched when they were told about someone armed with a machete in the area of Creek Ridge Road and Randleman Road.

This person was later identified as 41-year-old Ernesto Ruiz. Multiple officers responded to the parking lot of the Family Fare Convenience store/BP gas station on 2600 Randleman Rd.

One sergeant and two officers shot Ruiz. He was then taken to the hospital, where he died. Two bladed weapons were recovered from the scene. One was described as a large machete, and the other was described as a large kitchen knife.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation determined that members of the GPD first encountered Ruiz near the intersection of Creek Ridge Road and Rehobeth Church Road.

The weather was clear. Officers activated their blue lights and told Ruiz, who was walking, to drop the machete he had in one hand and the knife in the other. Ruiz then ran away.

Officers continued to tell Ruiz in English and Spanish to drop the machete and knife. Ruiz did not comply. Officers used pepper spray and multiple taser deployments. Officers then continued to follow Ruiz and issue commands for about one mile.

Officers were concerned that Ruiz was running into a more populated area and was still armed with a machete and knife. They were getting close to the intersection of Randleman Road and Creek Ridge Road.

There are several restaurants and convenience stores at that intersection, which would normally be busy on a Friday night.

Multiple officers pursued Ruiz through the parking lot of the BP. Civilians were in the area, and officers surrounded Ruiz. A marked patrol vehicle and an unmarked patrol vehicle were placed between Ruiz and the parking lot of a nearby Cookout.

Ruiz hit the hood of the patrol vehicle with the machete in one hand and the kitchen knife in the other. He then tried to run down the sidewalk but was blocked by the same patrol vehicle.

He was told to drop the weapons, and he moved toward officers with the machete raised in one hand, while he was still armed with a knife in the other hand.

One sergeant and two officers then shot Ruiz. He was hit multiple times and dropped the weapons when he was on the ground. Officers rendered life-saving measures. Ruiz was taken to the hospital and later died.

These events are confirmed by dash-cam footage from patrol vehicles and body-worn camera video, according to Crump.

The use of deadly force under these circumstances was reportedly justified by both the common law principle of self-defense and by statutory provisions that permit the use of deadly force by a law enforcement officer to defend himself or another from what he believes to be the imminent use of deadly force.