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Christopher Thomas Vaughan

Age : 35

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 09/09/2021

Location : Person County Courthouse, 105 S. Main Street

City : Roxboro

County : Person

State : North Carolina

Agency : Roxboro Police Department; Person County Sheriff’s Office

Officer(s) :J.G. “Trey” Wright III

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police during courtroom confrontation

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 09/09/2021, Roxboro Police Department Officer J.G. “Trey” Wright III shot 35-year-old Christopher Thomas Vaughan once in the head during a confrontation inside a courtroom at the Person County Courthouse in Roxboro. Vaughan was transported to Duke University Hospital and died from his injuries. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation conducted the criminal investigation.
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Vaughan was in court for a bench trial on a misdemeanor false-imprisonment charge. The charge arose from an incident in which he allegedly attempted to coerce a woman at a Walmart. On September 9, the court found Vaughan guilty.
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According to the subsequent investigation, Vaughan became extremely upset after the guilty verdict, threw a chair and moved toward the judge’s bench. Person County Sheriff’s Office Deputy J.R. Ray, who was serving as courtroom bailiff, intercepted Vaughan before he reached the judge. Vaughan and Ray fell to the floor and struggled.
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Wright was already inside the courtroom because he had testified as a witness in Vaughan’s criminal case. He left the witness stand and joined Ray in attempting to restrain Vaughan. This was therefore not a situation in which Wright was dispatched to confront Vaughan or entered the courthouse in response to the disturbance; he was present because of the trial.
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During the struggle, authorities alleged Vaughan reached for Ray’s holstered service weapon. Wright subsequently told investigators that he saw Vaughan attempting to obtain the deputy’s gun and believed Vaughan posed an immediate threat to Ray, himself and other people in the courtroom. Wright drew his handgun and fired one round, striking Vaughan in the head.
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Ray suffered a laceration to his head and scratches to his neck during the struggle. Wright suffered a broken hand. Both were treated and released from medical facilities.
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There was no video recording of the shooting. The courtroom’s audio recording, however, captured the incident. The SBI obtained that recording and interviewed witnesses. District Attorney Lorrin Freeman later said the courtroom audio corroborated the witness accounts investigators received concerning the confrontation.
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The Person County Sheriff’s Office, Roxboro Police Department and District Attorney’s Office requested an independent investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. SBI therefore conducted the criminal investigation rather than leaving the shooting investigation solely to either of the two local agencies whose personnel were involved.
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The shooting officer was initially withheld from public release. The subsequent prosecutorial review identified him as Roxboro Police Officer J.G. “Trey” Wright III and identified the bailiff as Person County Deputy J.R. Ray.
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District Attorney Lorrin Freeman reviewed the SBI investigation and announced on 11/19/2021 that Wright would not face criminal charges. Freeman concluded that Wright reasonably believed Vaughan’s attempt to obtain Ray’s firearm endangered Wright and other people in the courtroom and therefore determined that Wright’s use of deadly force was lawful.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
J.G. “Trey” Wright III was the Roxboro Police Department officer who shot and killed Christopher Vaughan. Wright had been testifying in Vaughan’s misdemeanor trial and became involved only after Vaughan’s confrontation with the judge and Deputy J.R. Ray began.
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The later investigation provides considerably greater specificity than the original September 2021 reporting: Wright fired the fatal shot, Ray was the deputy whose weapon Vaughan allegedly attempted to obtain, and SBI—not Roxboro police or the Person County Sheriff’s Office—conducted the criminal investigation.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.wral.com/man-shot-killed-after-courtroom-incident-in-roxboro/19874844/
https://abc11.com/roxboro-courthouse-shooting-person-county/11030312/
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article254151888.html
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/north-carolina/articles/2021-09-10/defendant-who-scuffled-with-deputies-inside-courtroom-dies
https://www.ncsbi.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/Update-on-SBI-Investigation-into-OIS-at-Person-Cou
https://abc11.com/post/no-charges-christopher-thomas-vaughan-roxboro-person-county-courthouse/11255421/
https://www.wral.com/archive/19991067/
https://www.witn.com/2021/09/10/defendant-dies-after-struggle-shooting-inside-person-county-courtroom/