No charges in fatal shooting of Irma evacuee at Huntersville hospital

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina prosecutor says he won’t charge police who fatally shot a 76-year-old Florida man who evacuated due to Hurricane Irma and fired shots inside a hospital where he sought treatment.

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Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather said Thursday the two officers who shot Joseph Charles Cook of Deland, Florida, were responding to an active shooter in a hospital.

Merriweather’s report includes security camera photos showing Cook dressed in a gown and walking the hallway outside his hospital room with what appears to be a small handgun. The DA says Cook had already fired two shots in his room at Novant Health Medical Center in Huntersville.

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Huntersville police officers Travis Watts and Michael Joseph shot Cook at least eight times at a nurse’s station.