RPD report: Man fired at officers, police and civilian cars before being shot by police

A report released Monday by the Raleigh Police Department offers a timeline of about 20 terrifying moments as a man with a gun roamed a southeast Raleigh neighborhood last week, firing on vehicles and at police officers.

The report identified the shooter as Jorge Luis Vega-Lesama and laid out the series of 911 calls that brought police to the area of Ligon Middle School just before 7 a.m. on Monday, March 27, 2023.

According to the report, the initial call to 911, at 6:53 a.m., described a man aiming a gun at passing cars. Additional callers described the man as standing in the middle of Martin Luther King Boulevard at Coleman Street and firing at drivers. Two people reported that their vehicles were hit by bullets, including a person who said there was a child in their car.

Dispatchers received more than a dozen calls from 6:58 a.m. to 7:04 a.m.

Ligon Middle School, blocks away from the shooter, was put on Code Yellow lockdown, with no one allowed into or out of the building, at 7 a.m., as parents and school bus drivers were dropping off students at the school.

Police tracked the shooter to the 700 block of Cumberland Street, and three officers – Sgt. R.A. Sirianna, his K-9 partner, M.L. Adams and P.J. Fernstrum – saw him outside a home at approximately 7:06 a.m., the report says. When they exited their vehicles, the man fired on them.

According to the report, Sirianna reported to dispatch, “[the] suspect is actively firing at us; we have no line of sight.”

When the man moved back into the sight of the officers, who had taken cover behind their vehicles, Sirianna fired four shots, according to the report, including the shot to the head that killed Vega-Lesama.

The report states Sirianna and the other two officers involved are on administrative leave. Each officer was in a marked Raleigh police vehicle and wearing their uniforms, which includes body-worn cameras.

The body cams and and the dash cameras were operating during the shooting, the report said. The department will seek a judge's permission to release the footage.

Former Raleigh police officer, attorney discusses shooting

Lee Turner is a defense attorney and a former Raleigh police officer. Turner represents Sirianna.

"The officers from what I have seen and learned, extreme professionalism kicked in," Turner said.

Turner said the March 27 shooting could have ended much worse considering no officers or people were hurt other than Vega-Lesama.

"You [have to] take into account people going out to their cars, getting up out walking a dog," Turner said.

Turner said investigators will need to determine if there was imminent threat. He said there "absolutely" was on March 27.

"It takes a big toll on any officer that has to discharge his weapon," Turner said. "No officer leaves his home wanting to fire his weapon and take someones life."