Armed man fatally shot by Durham police

Officers responded to the 1700 block of Angier Avenue at about 10:30 a.m. after receiving a call about a suicidal person.

After arriving on scene, officers and members of the department's hostage negotiation unit tried for about 30 minutes to get the man to drop his weapon.

Edwin Sandoval said he and his housemates heard what sounded like police commands outside their home. Sandoval said they decided to peek outside their window to get a better look at the situation.

"When we came out here we saw two cops across from us at the neighbor's house," Sandoval said. "Both of them had rifles. Other cops posted up by their cars with their pistols out."

Officers shot the man when he walked toward them and pointed his weapon, Lopez said. Lavante Trevon Biggs, 21, was taken to a local hospital, where he died.

"Police were telling him to throw it on the ground and cooperate," Sandoval said. "He did it about three times and he picked it back up. I actually saw him moving closer to them."

Biggs had just been released from jail on Saturday morning on a $3500 bond.He had been arrested and charged with injury to personal property on Friday.

He had faced various other criminal charges in the past including assault, possession of a gun on educational property, resisting a public officer, and a probation violation for possession of a weapon. He was placed on the sex offender registry for a first degree sexual offense and indecent liberties with a child in 2011.

The four officers involved in Saturday's shooting have been placed on administrative leave with pay, standard practice in an officer-involved shooting. The officers were identified Sunday as Richard Armstrong, Anthony Cisternas, Landon Harvey, and Jason Holmes.

"I think a situation like this is extremely dangerous for everyone involved," said chief Jose Lopez of the Durham Police Department. "Everyone who is there. I think the time someone is holding a gun is a very dangerous situation, a very dangerous time for all involved."

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident.