Charlotte prosecutor clears police who killed man after he kidnapped and killed

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers were justified in the fatal shooting of a man last October, Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather concluded in a report Tuesday.

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Before officers Joseph Pharr and Reilly Delk shot at Joseph Andrade on Oct. 23, he attempted three carjackings, killed two people, kidnapped a woman at gunpoint from her own home and shot at police while evading them, according to a letter that Merriweather sent to the State Bureau of Investigation.

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“It is without question that (the officers) were justified in exercising deadly force in defense of themselves, the kidnapping victim, and members of the public,” Merriweather wrote. “Accordingly, the State will not pursue criminal charges related to the death of Joseph Ajani Andrade.”

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