Sunday, February 13, 2011
Devon Mitchell, who held several people hostage at the Wachovia Bank in Cary last Thursday, did not have a gun, a Cary Police Department investigation has revealed.
Mitchell told hostage negotiators and the hostages that he had a gun. Mitchell was shot and killed by law enforcement Thursday evening after he exited the bank with a hostage.
Last Friday, the Indy called the Wake County Sheriff's Department, which reported it had not issued Mitchell a gun permit; nor was there one registered in his name. However, at the time, Cary police had not released the results of its investigation as to whether Mitchell had a gun at the bank.
Here's the press release from the Town of Cary:
At a news conference today, the Town of Cary Police Department announced this afternoon that the ongoing investigations into the hostage situation at Wachovia Bank on February 10 have revealed that Devon Mitchell, 19, of Pony Club Circle in Cary was not armed when he entered the branch located at 10050 Green Level Church Road just before 3 p.m. and held several people against their will for three hours.
“Despite what the 911 call reported, despite what he said to the hostages, despite what he told our hostage negotiator, despite what we all thought we saw when he came out of the bank with something pointed at one of the hostages’ head, we know now that there was no gun,” said Town of Cary Police Chief Pat Bazemore.
Mitchell died at the scene from shots fired by four Town of Cary police officers and one Wake County Sheriff’s Office deputy when he exited the bank three hours after the start of the incident, pointing what appeared to be a handgun at one of the hostages. After days of intense searching and investigation, police concluded Saturday evening that Mitchell did not have a weapon.
“This information does not change that our officers did exactly what they were trained to do and what they were expected to do. And I am confident that the investigations into the incident will bear this out,” said Bazemore. “Why Devon set all this in motion, why he wanted us all to believe that he had a weapon and was prepared to kill with it are questions we will never have the answers to. But it’s clear that that’s what Devon wanted.”
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