A North Carolina police officer was charged with first-degree murder for killing a man while off duty during an argument over a woman.
Kwaku Riley Agyapon, a Ranlo police officer, shot and killed 33-year-old Juan Avalo during an altercation over the slain man’s partner, who the officer met during a domestic disturbance call at the couple’s home in November and stayed in touch with afterward, reported WBTW-TV.
“We certainly did not detect any red flags with Officer Riley’s performance over the past four months,” said Ranlo town manager Jonathan Blanton. “He was an experienced officer. He had experience in other departments.”
Avalo went to New York after the domestic disturbance, so authorities could not serve him with a warrant until Dec. 7, when he was booked into jail charged with assault by strangulation, assault on a female, assault with a deadly weapon, larceny, and assault with a deadly weapon with a minor present.
However, the 34-year-old Agyapon stayed in touch with the woman after he was called to the house, and Avalo found his number in the woman’s phone on New Year’s Eve and contacted the officer, who suggested the two men meet at a gas station and fight.
Agyapon showed up at Avalo’s home a short time later with his service weapon, and the two men each were wounded in the ensuing altercation.
Avalo suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead New year’s Day at 5:20 a.m., and Agyapon was briefly hospitalized with a stab wound to his neck.
“It was very surprising and shocking to all of us that he was there,” Blanton said. “His motives and reasons for going there remains to be unseen. This was certainly not something that we were able to detect any type of similar behavior patterns, certainly nothing of this magnitude. Very shocking — very, very disappointed.”