Neighbourhood watch man on murder charge

A white neighbourhood watch member who apparently called police to complain about “hoodlums” near his house was charged with murder after he shot and killed a black man outside, authorities said.

In a case eerily similar to the Trayvon Martin shooting, the incident happened when 39-year-old Chad Cameron Copley fired a shotgun from inside his garage and hit the victim, according to Raleigh Police.

He was arrested hours later, and jail records show Mr Cameron was being held on a murder charge.

Kouren-Rodney Bernard Thomas, 20, suffered a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police released an audio recording of a 911 call that came in shortly before 1am on Sunday in which a male caller told a dispatcher that he is “locked and loaded” and preparing to go outside.

Saying there are people outside with guns, he told the dispatcher he was on neighbourhood watch and asked them to send police.

“We’ve got a bunch of hoodlums out here racing,” he said. “I am locked and loaded. I’m going outside to secure my neighbourhood.”

The dispatcher then attempted to get a numeric address for the caller, but he declined and hung up.

About seven minutes later, an upset female caller gave the dispatcher an address authorities later identified as Mr Copley’s house.

She then gave the phone to what sounded like the same male caller from earlier.

“We have a lot of people outside of our house yelling and shouting profanity,” said the male caller, presumedly Mr Copley.

“I yelled at them ‘please leave the premises’. They were showing firearms so I fired a warning shot. And, uh, we got somebody that got hit.”

After the dispatcher asked if someone was shot, the male caller responded: “I don’t know if they’re shot or not. I fired my warning shot like I’m supposed to by law... They do have firearms and I’m trying to protect myself and my family.”

After the dispatcher aked who was outside, the caller says: “There’s black males outside my freaking house with firearms.”

A police spokeswoman said state law bars police from releasing the identity of emergency callers.

The incident was reminiscent of the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin, who was gunned down by neighbourhood watchman George Zimmerman after a 911 call.