Chad Copley
Chad Copley
Chad Cameron Copley is a resident of Raleigh, North Carolina.
He is married with two young children.
The surrounding Census tract where he lived is about 60 percent white and almost 30 percent black, with a median household income of about $76,000 well above the state average in 2014.
Shooting of Kouren-Rodney Bernard Thomas
On August 7, 2016 Chad Copley fatally shot Kouren-Rodney Bernard Thomas an unarmed black man, with a shotgun from inside his garage.
Before the shooting Chad called 911 complaining about "thugs" in his neighborhood.
There was no confrontaion between Chad and Kouren before the shooting.
Raleigh Police arrested Chad Copley was arrested a few hours after the shooting.
Chad was charged with first-degree murder.
Judge Craig Croom denied Chad's bail and he is being held in Wake County Jail.
Judge Craig Croom said, Chad Copley could receive the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder.
According to Chad he went into his a garage and fired according to him a "warning shot."
Before the shooting Chad told 911 dispatchers:
"We've got a bunch of hoodlums out here racing," he says.
"I am locked and loaded.
I'm going outside to secure my neighborhood."
[3]“You need to send PD as quickly as possible,” he said.
“I’m on neighborhood watch.
I’m gonna have the neighbors with me.
There’s hoodlums out here racing up and down the street.
It’s 1 o’clock in the morning, um, there’s some vandalism.
They have firearms, and we’re going to secure our neighborhood.”
When Chad was asked by dispatchers about his address he declined and hung up.
A female caller later gave the home's address.
After the shooting, Chad said:
Later two others called 911 saying "Someone just got shot," and "Someone shot him out of his house."
Community Response
Neighbors of the Neusse Crossing Homeowners Association said that the neighborhood does not have a neighborhood watch in contrast to Chad's claims.
Mike Ellis, a co-owner and spokesman for Kohn-Ell Association Management, which manages homeowners’ associations (HOA) across the city including for Neusse Crossing also said that the neighborhood does not have a HOA.
Mike Ellis made the following statement on the HOA:
“The association is mainly concerned with covenant enforcement and social functions, like mowing the front entrance and fixing things,” Ellis said.
“We do not give residents police powers at all.
The homeowners association has certain responsibilities and obligations, and none of that can be construed as law enforcement.
We can make you mow your lawn but not law enforcement.”
David Parker, one of Chad's neighborhood said that he and others tried to start a neighborhood watch a few years ago but it never got off the ground.
He criticized Chad's actions saying “A neighborhood watch is just that: a watch,” he said.
“You don’t pack a gun and put on a badge like you’re a sheriff.”
Comparison to the Shooting of Trayvon Martin
Many have compared the shooting of Kouren-Rodney Bernard Thomas to the Shooting of Trayvon Martin in 2012.
In that shooting, George Zimmerman another white self-appointed community watchman called 911 about "black thugs" before shooting Trayvon Martin, also a unarmed young black man.