Update from the Asheville Police Department, Aug. 20 at 6 p.m:
The Asheville Police Department (APD) is releasing a photograph of the knife that the man, who has now been identified as Grant Paul Dalton (35), of Asheville, was holding at the time of the incident. Dalton had five open warrants with the Asheville Alcoholic Beverage Commision (ABC) law enforcement, two felony warrants for assault on a law enforcement officer causing serious injury and larceny of a motor vehicle, as well as three misdemeanor warrants for injury to personal property. The Asheville Police Department is working with the City Attorney’s Office to pursue a court order to have the body worn camera footage of this incident released.
Press release from the Asheville Police Department:
At approximately 10:00 am the Asheville Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC) contacted the Asheville Police Department (APD) to assist in a traffic stop involving a city bus. A man with open ABC warrants was a passenger on the bus. The ABC Officer initiated a traffic stop and called the man out by name from the outside of the bus. The individual did not follow commands from the ABC officer and barricaded himself on the bus.
APD evacuated all passengers and transit staff safely off the bus. The APD Crisis Negotiation Team began speaking with the man.
For 90 minutes, officers negotiated with the man to try and keep him from hurting himself. During that time, he was stabbing himself in the neck. The man then got off the bus, and charged the officers with a knife in his hand. APD officers used their tasers and shot the man. A 35 year old white male was taken to Mission Hospital. He is in critical, but stable condition.
Per APD policy the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) has been contacted to conduct an investigation into the shooting.
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