Officer shares details of arresting ‘less than compliant’ Shaw University shooter
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The Wake County Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission agent who helped apprehend the gunman on Shaw University’s campus Tuesday is sharing how he saw the situation unfold.
“I wouldn’t normally be on that campus doing regular, my day-to-day job. It just happened to put me in the right place,” said Michael Velez.
Velez is an agent with Wake County ABC. His work brought him to Shaw’s campus Tuesday for an alcohol charge unrelated to the shooting.
He says he was in a meeting with the school’s police chief when they heard gunfire.
“Where we were, it sounded like they were really close,” he said.
They immediately rushed towards the International Studies Center on Shaw’s campus.
“You know you’re on a college campus. You’ve dealt with it and heard enough about it and you know you just got to go and react,” he explained.
Velez credits bystanders for helping pinpoint the location of the gunman.
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“When we go into a situation like that, you’re always trained to go towards the gunshots, but when the gunshots are over, you’ve got to kind of figure it out and make your way. If they wouldn’t have let us know where he was as quickly as it was, we would’ve had to search the entire building.”
With that help, he located the alleged shooter, 74-year-old Kamal Rasool Abdal-Rafi upstairs.
“He was less than compliant,” Velez said.
Velez held him at gunpoint, waiting for additional officers to arrive to help take Abdal-Rafi into custody.
“It seemed like forever, but it probably wasn’t a minute or so,” the agent said.
No one was injured during the shooting.
Velez is now being heralded for his actions.
“It’s been a little overwhelming,” he said. “Lot of people calling, but all positive.”
Abdal-Rafi made his first court appearance on Wednesday, the day after the shooting. He’s charged with multiple felonies and misdemeanors, including assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. His next appearance is scheduled for May 15.
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