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Unarmed Black Man Shot Dead

Two witnesses who said they saw police shoot and kill a knife-wielding man in northeast Raleigh on Tuesday contradict a police account that the suspect lunged at an officer with the weapon. Navon Lefort Ligon, 43, was shot once while officers were trying to arrest him outside his girlfriend's apartment at 4608 Brockton Drive on Tuesday afternoon. He was wanted in connection with an assault early Tuesday morning on the girlfriend, Freda Gail Narron. Ligon was shot by Sgt. Craig Haines. Officer Stephen Wolfe was with Haines at the scene, according to an incident report. A statement released by police Tuesday evening said that after "Ligon resisted, and a foot pursuit ensued," he ignored orders by police and "lunged forward with the knife" before Haines shot him. Elena Hurst, 34, said she watched from across the street as two Raleigh officers approached a man and a woman near an apartment building Tuesday afternoon. The officers told the man they had a warrant for his arrest, but he denied that they did and started walking away, Hurst said. She didn't see a weapon. "They said, 'Drop the knife. Drop the knife,' " she said. When one of the cops sprayed the man with pepper spray, it had no effect. He started walking toward the street, Hurst said. The officer who shot him walked six or seven feet behind Ligon, and the other was a few feet in front, she said. "His back was turned to the police officer, and when he went to turn around, that's when the police shot him," she said. "But mind you, it wasn't like he was waving the knife around." John Gettinger Sr., 62, of Surf City was working on one of the apartments he owns across the street and also witnessed the encounter. Gettinger and Hurst said that the suspect was walking at a normal pace and that his hands were at his sides when the shot was fired. "I didn't see him make any kind of threatening motion or anything like that," Gettinger said. [more]