No charges in fatal shooting of Irma evacuee at hospital

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – A North Carolina prosecutor won’t charge police who fatally shot a 76-year-old evacuee from Hurricane Irma after the man fired shots inside a hospital where he sought treatment.

The two officers who shot Joseph Charles Cook of Deland, Florida, were responding to an active shooter in a hospital, Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather said Thursday.

Merriweather’s report includes security camera photos showing Cook wearing a hospital gown and carrying what appears to be a small handgun in a hallway. The prosecutor says Cook had already fired two shots in his room at Novant Health Medical Center in Huntersville.

Huntersville police officers Travis Watts and Michael Joseph responded, shooting Cook at least eight times at a nurse’s station.