Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Kill Nightclub Security Guard After Perceiving Imminent Threat
CHARLOTTE NC
JANUARY 5, 2025
A nightclub security guard was shot to death by police who perceived an imminent threat from the armed man.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police identified the officer who killed the man outside the Coyote Joe’s nightclub and country music venue in Charlotte late Saturday.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Officer Joseph Calabro shot the man after “he perceived an imminent deadly threat,” police said in a news release.
Calabro joined CMPD on June 27, 2016, police said.
The father of the man who was shot had previously identified him to The Charlotte Observer as 28-year-old Lucas Armstrong. Scott Armstrong said his son lived in Gaston County and worked for Coyote Joe’s as a security guard.
A CMPD officer who was off duty working security at Coyote Joe’s called the police that night.
Police responded to a report of a man in distress who was holding a gun to his head, the Observer previously reported, citing police radio traffic. “We’re trying to talk him down now,” an unidentified officer said by radio at 11:18 p.m. that night. “Get MEDIC started and a few more units to the building. We’re in the back.” Two minutes later, an officer reported: “We got shots fired… OK, now everybody can come, lights and sirens. MEDIC. Fire. Lights and sirens.”
Police said MEDIC pronounced the man dead at the scene.
CMPD said its officers found the man’s gun outside the nightclub.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation into the shooting, CMPD said.
CMPD is conducting a parallel Internal Affairs investigation, which is routine.
Per protocol, Calabro was placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigations, according to CMPD.
CMPD urged anyone with information about the shooting to call its homicide unit at 704-432-8477 or the Crime Stoppers anonymous tips line at 704-334-1600 or http://charlottecrimestoppers.com/.
Coyote Joe’s is among Charlotte’s most popular longtime nightclubs. The venue has hosted many big-name and up-and-coming country artists since opening in 1991 in the 4600 block of Wilkinson Boulevard. Luke Combs, Kane Brown and Dylan Scott also have done live music video recordings there, according to its website.
